Your Friendship For My Silence
by KtyouVsWriting
Summary: Blake needed one person to rely on at Beacon, just one person she could trust in all things. It was an impossible expectation at first, but then Jaune was talking to himself and let the truth slip out. It was shameful to blackmail him into friendship, but it's not like she had a better idea. Jaune was no Adam, but he could be made into what she wanted. Or is he as weak as he seems?
1. Chapter 1: Never a Frown

Chapter 1: Never a Frown

 **Beacon Academy**

 **Initiation Day**

Blake Belladonna was no stranger to waking up amongst others. So the day had started out like no other day.

Then her Faunus senses began to tingle.

There were no Faunus in her immediate area, but there were people. They were Humans, and they were all around her.

Blake tensed and rose from her bedding, reaching for her weapon, only for her memory to remind her of where she was.

Sleeping bags all around her, kids her age in various positions sleeping soundly, and only a few being really loud about it. She loosened the tension in her shoulders, then laid back down onto her sleeping bag, sighing in relief.

It was fortuitous that she didn't have her weapon nearby. She might just do something that would get her into trouble.

This was not the White Fang.

This was Beacon Academy.

Thoughts of Adam came back to make her reminisce. More and more, she found it difficult to remember his face, his true face, not the one that he presented to the White Fang, and not the one he presented to her.

His true face… what was it?

Where was the man she once cared for so much?

 _Gone apparently._ As much as she didn't want to concede to that fact, she had to. _He died a long time ago._

Whatever he was now, it wasn't the Adam that Blake wanted, the Adam that Blake had once known to be a bright idealist, a champion of Faunus freedom, a person who wanted to do the right thing with the right means.

How was _that_ man lost?

 _Best not to think about it_. Blake sighed a great sigh. _I made my choice as did Adam, and I must stand by my decision. It's been months. I made myself promise not to get dragged down by his memory._

She needed something else to think about, but in this moment, she felt very restless.

Initiation wasn't going to start for another three hours, which meant she had time to kill, but what to do that wouldn't wake up anyone else? She could try and read some more, though she'd finished the book she was reading. She needed to get a new one.

Blake folded her arms by her head and let her eyes close again. All of this lull in activity was something that she needed to get used to. Even with months of transitioning into society, her nerves hadn't completely calmed. She was ready to defend herself at a moment's notice, an instinct ingrained within her mind.

Her hands clenched tightly, only to loosen again.

 _Well, I suppose I could get some morning training in. It's not like I've got anything better to be doing._

Staying light on her toes, she carefully tiptoed around each and every person that was in her path. It was a good test to make sure she was just as stealthy as ever, and if anyone saw her doing this, they might question her, which motivated her to not be caught.

Then she had a thought as she had reached the main entrance: she had no idea where she was really going.

 _Stupid me._ Blake slapped herself in the head. _That's what I get for being a paranoid runaway._

Regardless of her thoughtlessness, she opened the doors carefully and made her way to the locker room. She knew at least where that was, and once she had a map of the school, she would remember where everything was in a week's time.

Leaving Gambol and Shroud in her assigned locker, she showered and dressed as she normally did. Checking to make sure that her bow was secured snugly and that no one could see it easily, she made her way back to the auditorium.

Now that she thought about it, she looked a weird person walking through these hallways aimlessly.

This wouldn't be such a problem if there was someone she could talk to. There was only the problem of Blake being who she was. It wasn't that she was incapable of making friendships, but being social was not one of her better characteristics either.

In the end, she had no one to blame but herself, she knew. In another life, she would have been different, that was a certainty. Living as a Faunus and a being a former member of the White Fang made her view of the world somewhat negative.

Times like this made her miss Menagerie.

But negative or not, there were teams and partners at Beacon. She was going to have to work with someone, and so far, what she had seen was not what she desired necessarily. A lot of these kids were so outgoing, a lot more than she was ever use to seeing. Some were so quirky that getting along with them, in her opinion, would be very difficult, particularly the ones that were very outgoing.

Discounting initial personality observations, there was also the fact that she hadn't witnessed anyone in combat yet either. All of the potentials had varying skill levels, and Blake didn't want to be stuck with someone who was incompetent, but then again, wasn't this Beacon Academy?

She returned to the hall, where virtually all of the students were asleep.

Almost all of them.

Somewhere in the middle of the room, there was someone else sitting up, and without proper lighting, she could only see that it was a boy. He didn't say anything, but she heard a distinct sigh, a sound that no one asleep would make, or seldom would make. She didn't pay the person much mind as he settled back into his sleeping bag, paying her no mind.

 _He's definitely Human._ Blake had seen no Faunus traits nor did he react to her when he was looking at her. _He would've seen me if he were Faunus._

It wasn't long before Blake settled back into her spot and leaned her head against the wall, deciding that clearing her mind was probably the next best thing to do. She'd get up when everyone else did, then head out to grab her weapons.

 _Just do what everyone is doing, and you'll be fine._

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

 **Two hours later...**

Jaune Arc was no stranger to waking up amongst others. He had seven sisters, and even with separate bedrooms, he still found the younger ones sleeping against him when he woke up. Why him, he wondered.

Then he heard the sound of multiple voices talking, none of them familiar.

So he rubbed his eyes and sat up.

Oh. Right.

He was at Beacon Academy.

Progress was good so far to him. He'd made contact with at least one person. Ruby was her name, and she was interesting to say the least. He looked around to see if she was anywhere around.

All around him, most of the prospective huntsmen and huntresses were sleeping, but some had awoken, and were chatting.

Now that he thought about it, his choice of pajamas probably wasn't the most suave of fashion. Looking around, none of the other students wore sleeping ware even close to what he was wearing. Sure, none of them dressed very extravagantly, but none of them had anything outrageous on either.

Compared to them, he looked goofy.

He'd have to fix that. Shorts and a t-shirt would work just fine.

Curse his sisters for telling him that his PJ's were fine in public. That was the last time he was going to take advice from them.

Ruby was sleeping with that blonde girl claiming to be her sister. He didn't see any resemblance, but who was he to judge? All of his siblings had distinctive features and looks, and besides, he wasn't one to be suspicious. He was too trusting too fast, his parents often said, but it wasn't his fault. He didn't have many friends.

Jaune wasn't going to get any more sleep with his mind like this, so it was time to get ready for the day. With luck, nobody would remember what he was wearing right now. Was that too much to ask for?

Grabbing his sleeping bag and his bag, he made his way to the locker room. Along the way, he found his eyes trained on a girl with a black bow. She was staring at something. She looked… intense.

He then ran into the door, and only quickly let out a sound of pain before opening it and leaving the ballroom.

His shower was quick; he'd already showered yesterday night, so today was a simple touch up. Dressing quickly, and responding to his stomach, the boy journeyed to the cafeteria, only losing his way four times.

Although it wasn't a wholesome breakfast, Jaune settled for a box of Pumpkin Pete's. They were just so tasty, he couldn't help it. He felt justified in his choice of food given that he was going to be initiated as a huntsman.

Three bowls later, and a half-hour later, he was good. Now he had to find the locker where his armor and weapons were being kept.

Now which one had his stuff?

He reached into his pocket to find where his stuff was.

Locker… 636.

Why didn't he remember getting that locker number?

Okay, so maybe things weren't going in his favor after all.

As he passed by other students, he couldn't help but admire all of them. They all looked so strong and with such a variety of weapons. He could only imagine just how good they were given that some weapons looked too outlandish at face value.

This only served to remind Jaune about how he'd gotten here, and now he felt so tiny, though he did his best not to show it.

After fifteen minutes of wandering, he found the locker and gotten his things. Armor first, belt and pouches next, then Crocea Mors last.

Now he was slightly less pathetic.

Noticing a pair of girls nearby, he decided to try his luck. His father had said that confidence worked.

Didn't he just get done telling himself that his sister's advice was pretty much totally not cool? Did that apply to his father too?

Dammit, he didn't want to disrespect his family, but he didn't want to disrespect himself any more than he had already done over the past sixteen hours.

Now here he was, staring at two girls, trying to decide if he was ready to sacrifice his pride once again (he'd done more than his fair share of that too). He probably should stop staring lest he wants them to think he's some kind of creep.

One was dressed in a snow-white dress while the other had donned what he thought to be more appropriate battle gear. The red one looked… familiar.

She was on that cereal box.

Whoa. That. Was. AWESOME!

If these girls were talking, they had to be someone famous.

That thought made the blond-haired boy pull back.

 _Ah, who am I kidding?_ Jaune pulled back, his anxiousness keeping him from doing anything daring. _They look leagues above me even taking out the famous part._

This whole thing was making him question whether or not he was really ready to become a huntsman. Just this display of students in training was enough to put him off. So he turned away. At least he didn't look creepy anymore.

He took another glance around to see who else was here. It looked like everyone here fit here. They had earned the right to be here.

He hadn't.

"This was one of my worst ideas yet." Jaune banged his head against his locker. "A forged transcript can't cover for me forever. I'll be found out soon or later."

"You okay, Jaune?" That voice, he knew it.

Gathering his thoughts and putting on a pleasant face, he smiled for Ruby. "I'm fine, Ruby. I'm just a little anxious."

"No time for that, vomit boy." Yang slapped him on the back. "You're a huntsman in training now. It's time to act like it now."

"Yeah…" That didn't sound very convincing. "Are you guys going out to the cliffs?

"Yep!" Ruby flashed a thumbs up. "You comin' or what?"

"I'll catch up." He flashed a smile as best he could. "Just gotta do some last-minute checks."

"Sure thing." Ruby gave him a pat. "See you out there."

He watched them, leave, staring back at his locker.

Then he turned to follow.

Only to see a familiar black-haired girl with a bow and golden eyes.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

"What's this I hear about a forged transcript?" Blake stepped closer. "You faked your way into Beacon?"

"What?" Jaune stepped back. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar." She took another step towards him. "I heard you."

"How?" He looked distressed.

"That doesn't matter." She crossed her arms. "What matters is what I'm going to do with this bit of info."

Jaune's face looked agonizingly painful, and more than she let it show, Blake felt a part of her brain beat her up. Never again, she had promised. Never again would she use such immoral methods to achieve something.

But judging from his reaction, he could be easily persuaded and shaped. So if he was as terrible as she thought he was, then she could easily train him too. She'd never taught anyone how to fight, or taught anyone to do anything for that matter, but how hard could it be? He had to at least have some rudimentary training.

Now it was too late for regrets.

"Please don't tell anyone." Jaune was begging now, because he didn't know what else to do. "I just… I can't leave." He even held his clasped hands in front of him.

"Hold on there, partner." Blake pushed his hands down. "I don't need a show here. What I do need is a friend."

"...say that again?" He abandoned his fear for confusion.

"Look, let's just say I'm not a social butterfly, and I can tell that you're not exactly the most suave of people." She eyed him up and down. "So I'll look the other way… if you agree to be my friend."

"But that's not how friendship works." Jaune argued back. "It's a mutual relationship, not blackmail."

"Fine, then I can go ahead and tell Professor Ozpin." Blake hardened her look.

"NO!" Jaune grabbed her. "I'll do it!"

"I want your word." Blake stared him in the eyes. "I want your word that you will be my friend."

"I swear, upon my honor as a member of the Arc family, to be your friend through thick and thin." Jaune even raised a hand.

Blake looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "That sounds like an oath carried down in the family."

"It is, and my family takes oaths very seriously." Jaune lowered his hand only to put it in front of him. "The name's Jaune Arc. It's short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue, and … never mind."

"What?" Blake still shook his hand. "I don't bite."

"Nothing." That was all that he had to offer as answer. "Just forget it."

 _Pickup line probably._ Blake almost cringed. _Well, at least he knows when to keep a lid on it._

"Okay…" Blake let go of his hand. "I'm Blake Belladonna."

"It's nice to meet you Blake." Jaune couldn't feel any more awkward than he felt now.

"And you, Jaune." Blake felt really unsure now.

"All first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation." And there was Professor Goodwitch. "Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff for initiation."

"Time to get moving." He gestured to the exit. "You first."

"No, after you." She offered him.

Friends were nice like that…

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

Predictably, both Jaune and Blake ended up standing next to each other during the run-through of initiation.

It was simple and straightforward, but there were a multitude of things that Jaune was worried about. For one thing, they needed a landing strategy, which he didn't have. For another thing, they needed partners and teams, and the means was arbitrary. And finally, there were a lot of Grimm, and he hadn't killed one before.

Blake had no quarrels about anything. As far as she was concerned, she had a plan, and she wasn't about to let anything or anyone get in the way of it. Landing strategy? No problem at all. Partner? That was already known to her. Teams? She'd cross that bridge when she and her partner got there. Grimm? Bring 'em on!

There were so many other students to choose from, but which ones would work the best? Which teams would have the best synergy? Who would be the easiest to get along with? Who would be hard to get along with?

 _This is going to be tough._ They shared a look. _But… at least I've got someone to depend on?_

Yeah… they'd have to work things out on the battlefield, then they could start saying that they were dependable.

Although both the knight and the ninja were full aware of the fact they were already partners in all things but official records, as Ozpin said, teams were made up of four people, not two.

One thing at a time. The most important thing was that they already knew their partner. Teammates would come later.

The sound of the first student being launched into the air made Jaune instantly tense up, his whole body going stiff.

No, he wasn't ready for this. How in Remnant's name did students survive jumps like that. It was so… not normal.

"Relax, Jaune." Blake whispered to him. "I've got this."

Another student was launched.

"Blake, you're asking me a lot." Jaune shot back.

There went another.

"Just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

The sound of rushing wind.

"I don't even know you well yet, so that doesn't help."

Blake just motioned her head.

"Just don't worry about it."

Jaune just looked at her like she was crazy.

Then she was off.

"I still have questions."

And he was next.

"AHHHHHhhhhh…."

Had they still been there, they would have noticed Ozpin staring at the two spots they were once standing on, followed by their figures shrinking in the distance.

"Very interesting."

It would seem that Miss Belladonna and Mister Arc had already formed an alliance of sorts if their interactions he witnessed were anything to go by. That alone wasn't interesting, but the way they interacted, there was something going on there. Their expressions were revealing of something beyond mere acquaintanceship.

"Very interesting indeed." Ozpin sipped on his coffee.

"Is there something the matter, sir?" Glynda stood next to him, her scroll in hand. "You seem distracted."

"I suppose I am." Ozpin said in a nonchalant way. "Though not for any distressing reason."

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

Blake landed on a tree, keeping an eye out for the blond boy that was suppose to be right behind her.

A scream told her what she needed to know. Her eyes tracked his fast-approaching form as he barrelled through the air with absolutely no control of his own path.

Unsheathing Gambol Shroud, she unwound her black ribbon, tied it to one end of her blade, stabbed it into the tree, then stood posed to throw.

Here he comes. Wait for it.

…

Wait for it.

…

Blake threw her ribbon out to catch Jaune. Her target was his leg, which she hit. Once ribbon had run out, Jaune was cast downwards, hitting tree branches as he descended clumsily. He saw the ground approaching and he closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable head trauma that he was going to suffer.

Only for him to stop. He felt himself swinging. He opened his eyes only for his face to meet a tree. He covered his nose as it was bonked harshly.

"Ow!" Jaune rubbed. "That hurt."

He was about to sing to the other side when he felt a hand land on his face. His eyes adjusted to see just who had saved him.

Blake removed her hand and smirked as she stared at an upside down Jaune.

"So, Jaune?" She put her hands on her hips. "Do you have a partner?"

"Ha ha." He wasn't in the mood for attitude. "Funny."

"You know, it's not nice to backtalk, especially to a person who just saved you." Blake frowned at him. "I could leave you up there."

He sighed angrily. "Please let me down, Blake. And thank you for saving my tail."

She patted him on the chest. "Better."

Jaune couldn't see Blake as she ascended the tree, but there were some sounds before he felt himself fall again, only moving his head in time to avoid any injuries to that part of his body. It still hurt though.

"Thank you." He called out to his partner.

"Sorry." She called back to him.

By the time he was done checking himself over, she'd rejoined him back on the ground. She brushed herself off.

"We ought to get moving." Jaune began to walk. "This way."

"So you were paying attention." Blake walked by his side. "I thought you were paralyzed with fear."

"Hey, I've got poor judgement, but I'm not stupid." He defended himself. "Besides, even without Professor Ozpin's instructions, I would still go this way."

She felt a sort of apprehension gnaw at her. They were suppose to be friends (it was by no means, blackmail), but what did that mean? How was she to be a friend with a boy like Jaune? She'd never met anyone like him before.

What did a person like him want to talk about?

"Look." Jaune tapped her on the shoulder. "Tracks."

Seeing that he was right, the Faunus girl kneeled down to check the type of track. Judging by the size and the shape, it looked to be an Ursa.

"Grimm nearby." Blake stood up. "Keep your guard up."

With their weapons drawn, they continued on their way. Blake used her years of training within the White Fang to stay on alert. Jaune relied on his years of wilderness experience to keep himself focused. If either of them commented on the other's attention to their surroundings, they didn't show it.

They arrived at a cliff, and without any wasted time, Blake began to scale down the cliff. It wasn't that big of a cliff, but instinct kicked in, and she was already down at the bottom before she knew it.

She turned to see Jaune's progress only for him to land back-first on the ground next to her.

"That's gonna leave a mark." Jaune sat up. "Or maybe a bit of a cut."

"Or both." Blake stepped over him, offering him a hand. "Here."

"Ow." He muttered lightly. "This is gonna take a while to heal."

"Why don't you let your aura do that?" Blake asked him.

"I'm sorry?"

"Aura, Jaune."

"What's that?"

"You… don't know what aura is?"

"Should I, Blake?"

"Well, yes." She stood a meter from him. "It's one of the most important things a huntsman or huntress will ever need to fight Grimm."

"Oh… I knew that!" He replied instantly. "Just a bit of brain lag, that's all."

"You are an idiot." She slapped his shoulder. "Did you seriously not do any sort of research or training before deciding to become a huntsman?"

"Well…" Jaune smiled weakly, patting the back of his head. "I…"

"Never mind, I don't want to know how bad you are." Blake stepped up to him. "What matters now is that you get your aura."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up a second." Jaune sidestepped his partner. "What exactly is aura?"  
There was a complicated and thorough explanation, but right now, it wasn't appropriate right now, not when Grimm were around. Blake was never one to talk much less lecture, and she didn't want to bore Jaune.

She kept her distance as she explained

"In layman terms, aura is like a force shield that protects us. Only beings with souls have it. The Grimm don't have souls-"

"So they don't have it. So is it only a shield?"

"It can be offensively and defensively. I can get into the details later, but for now, you need it to protect yourself. So let me unlock it for you."

"You can do that?" Jaune looked surprised.

"Do you trust me?" Blake felt the slightest of anxiousness.

"I don't know anything about this stuff, and I'm taking you word for it." He shrugged his shoulders. "So yeah, I do."

"Good, then this will make it easier." She looked around, making sure they wouldn't be interrupted. "Okay."

Physical contact with another person was something Blake wasn't completely comfortable with, but pushing her dislike aside, she stepped right up so that she was facing Jaune.

"Close your eyes. Try to calm down." Blake gingerly touched her palm to his face. "Don't think too hard."

"U-u-uh, o-okay." Jaune, with some effort, tempered his mind.

She began to call upon her aura and connect to his soul. She was actually not sure what she was doing, but she had been told that if she needed to unlock aura, it would be a simple thing to do, instinctive almost. So she was initially disappointed when she couldn't feel anything at first.

Steeling her resolve, she delved deeper, reaching out further. There it was, a feeling of familiarity. It was aura, but it felt closed-off, completely untapped.

That had to be it.

Just a little more pushing…

"For it is in friendship that we achieve strength. Through this, we become more than we are alone and ascend to greater heights. Eternal in will and bound in life, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, embolden thee."

"Blake?" Jaune almost grabbed her as she sagged. "Are you okay?"

"It's fine." Blake waved him off. "I just gave your aura a jumpstart."

Collecting her thoughts, she used her aura again to try and "see" him. She didn't have to use much effort, because his presence within the forest was unmistakable.

"Your aura is very strong." She gave him an impressed look. "Stronger than mine."

"Thanks, I guess." He looked flustered. "Even if I'm not quite sure what that means."

"Well, what matters is that it protects you. How are those back injuries doing?"

"Um… wow, I don't feel anything at all."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nope."

"Okay, so your aura is quite potent if you can heal injuries so quickly." Blake pointed in the direction of the temple. "We should get going though. We can discuss the finer details later."

"Right." Jaune immediately took lead.

The next few minutes were spent in silence, as the two of them kept their pace consistent. All the while, in both their minds, was the thought of their relationship. They called it a "friendship," but it wasn't that, not yet at least. Blake was feeling a bit guilty of having put Jaune in this position and Jaune, in a way, wanted a relationship, and right now, Blake was his best chance.

But they weren't exactly hitting it off.

"So, where are you from?" Jaune thought of the most generic way to begin a conversation.

What he didn't realize that by asking that question that he was already poking at something that she didn't want to talk about period, something that she hadn't thought about in some time.

"I don't have a home." Blake looked at the back of his head. "I get around from place to place. What about you?"

"Mistral." He began. "My family and I-"

Without his permission, Blake abruptly launched herself and pushed Jaune out of the way. They both collapsed to the ground just in time to miss the claws of an Ursa major slicing the air where they'd stood moments ago.

"Thanks, Blake."

"Don't thank me yet, partner."

The Ursa struck again. This time, it was Jaune who reacted faster and rolled them both to the right, all the while bringing up his shield to block the strike. He struggled for a moment before pushing back.

"Nice one, Jaune."

"Once this thing is dead, then we'll trade compliments."

"Read my mind."

Both of them began to backtrack and the Grimm followed them.

"How good are you with that shield?" Blake asked.

"Better than my sword." Jaune responded.

"Then distract it." She retrieved her ribbon. "I'm going to get it from behind."

"Um, not a good idea." He pointed his sword. "Look."

"What do you mean… oh for love of…"

They were now surrounded by lesser Ursai, too many for them to be making ambush attacks. Completely cut off, the two of them met back-to-back.

"I don't suppose you've got a plan?" Blake looked over her shoulder.

His silence made her tense up. She felt him moving, but did he hear her?

"Cut off the head?"

"That's it?"

"I mean the big one. It seems to be leading them. Kill the big one, and the others might think twice."

"Or at least be derailed. The only question is how do we get to it?"

"We don't. You do."

"Excuse me?" She glanced at him.

"I'm not fast, but I think you are. I'll keep these guys busy." He sounded a little too casual about running into death. "I can buy you maybe thirty seconds."

"You won't survive." He was an idiot.

"I'll survive long enough." Scratch that, he was beyond idiotic.

Their banter made them vulnerable as Ursa began to throw themselves at the two hunters in training. Blake responded by firing several rounds, two of them killing via headshot. Jaune swung his sword and clumsily damaged one that got too close.

Seeing the opening, Blake threw her ribbon with her blade attached to it and swung it in an arc, severing multiple heads off at once. Jaune ducked and watched the carnage, eyes wide. He didn't stare slack-jawed for long and brought up his shield to block another clawed hand before deflecting and almost missing an impale to the head.

Blake then tossed her ribbon to impale the Ursa in the head, only for it to shift and the blade dug into its back. Seeing and feeling the weapon in its skin, the Grimm tried to shake its enemy off.

Before she could be flung around, Jaune grabbed her by the waist and dug his sword into the ground. Seeing what he was trying to do, Blake worked with his strength and pulled against the Ursa. The Grimm hit the ground head-first.

Gritting her teeth, Blake pulled back her ribbon to her, dragging the blade along the blade of the Ursa and splitting its head neatly in two.

If the Grimm around them weren't hesitating before, they were now, and they were clearing out like the devil had come.

"What did I tell you?" Jaune nudged Blake. "They're spooked."

"And so am I." Blake looked down at his arm still wrapped around her midsection. "Now could you let go?"

"Sorry!" He retreated instantly. "Heat of the moment action."

"Just… warn me next time." She sheathed her weapon.

With quiet returning, the two of them eased the tension in their bodies, and resumed their perilous journey.

* * *

 **So by popular vote, my readers wanted to see a Blake x Jaune story, and here it is. This story is going to be focusing less on battle scenes and more on character development. Fights and battles will serve as a reinforcement of relationships rather than be a main focus.**

 **With that in mind, I need a beta-reader. More specifically, I need a person who can help me with the details of the story such as character interactions, character development, and story-telling. I don't need you to have a psychoanalysis of the characters, but knowing the characters well would be a big help. I will also need a person to grammar-check, or if you think you can do both, then awesome.**

 **Excuse the cover art. I didn't have time to come up with anything better.**

 **I can't promise stable updates, but I can promise chapters to the best of my ability.**

 **Oh, and guess what song I was listening to as I wrote this chapter? Hint: chapter title.**

 **So what's the vibe? Good? Bad? Meh? If you all want to see this thing take off, then leave a review, favorite and follow.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and remember:**

 _ **"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."**_

 **Carl Sagan**

 **Peace out!**


	2. Chapter 2: Absolute Duo

Beta-Readers: **Jauneforever** (Ideas), **G-Unot** (Grammar and Ideas), **Noraspace** (Grammar)

Chapter 2: Absolute Duo

 **Emerald Forest**

 **Kingdom of Vale**

Neither of them knew when it happened, but Jaune had taken the lead from the start, and neither he nor Blake cared enough to question it. There were more pressing matters for them to be concerned about, the most important being the retrieval of a relic followed by recruiting two more to be on a team, partners presumably.

Since their first encounter with the Grimm, neither had spotted any other of the twisted creatures, so their path was relatively serene. While they had been clued into the whereabouts of the relics, there was unfortunately no description of what they might look like. There was a temple somewhere in the direction they were heading, with both aspiring hunters just hoping it was not somewhere obscure and off the beaten path.

They hadn't spotted any initiates either, but from the sounds of gunfire and unnatural roars, it was confirmed that they were out there somewhere, fighting their own way to the coveted relics. They had to be spread out over many miles of forest. It could take hours for all of the students to gather the relics and then return to their intended pickup point, and that was discounting any time consumed by possible encounters with the Grimm, of which there would likely be many.

However this wasn't even what weighed on their minds the most right now.

It was their first time fighting together and it was the beginning of what they both assumed to be many battles ahead. It was a first test of trust, and they'd gotten through it without any faltering or hesitation. There was no doubt or insecurity, just immediate and decisive action. That was a good first step.

It was almost an escape from their relationship.

 _Almost_ being the key word.

Then the reality of their situation began to come back to them.

"So what's your favorite color?" Jaune asked her, trying to build some rapport with reserved girl. "Wait, don't tell me that. I think I know already."

"I hope you don't answer that wrong." Blake rubbed her forehead. "The answer is written on my sleeve, and everywhere else."

"Alright, do you wanna guess my favorite color?" Jaune tried. He sounded desperate by asking that question.

"No." Blake didn't hesitate a second.

"Okay… nice weather right?"

"I guess so."

"Killing Grimm, gets the blood rushing."

"I guess so."

Jaune sighed audibly in frustration while Blake glared at the back of his head. Okay, so they were getting somewhere with small talk, just not in the usual fashion. Who was he kidding, he was awkward and clumsy at trying to fill in the gaps and boring to boot, and she wasn't even pretending to want to have a proper conversation.

A relationship based on blackmail and coordinated fighting efforts and a few shaky lines? That wasn't a whole lot to work with.

"So where did you learn how to fight?" Jaune decided to ditch typical small talk questions. "You did some nifty things with that ribbon."

"From a few friends." Blake's response was curt. "And lots of practice and experience."

"Right…" Jaune, not paying attention to the path they were traversing, walked straight into a heavy tree branch, with his head paying the price. "Ow!"

"If you keep this up, you're not going to make it." Blake pushed him out of the way. "Pay attention a bit."

"Sorry." Jaune didn't bother hiding the disappointment in his voice. "I just thought that if you're keeping me on a leash, the least I can do is at least try to make it pleasant for both of us."

That seemed to silence her, and he continued to lead them on.

Jaune glanced out of the corner of his eyes to watch Blake as she kept her eyes forward looking edgy. This girl confused him so much, and that meant something coming from a boy who had seven sisters, each with distinctive personalities, all of them he was intimately familiar with.

"Your sense of direction isn't half bad." Blake finally broke the silence. "Maybe you aren't as stupid as I thought."

"Thank you." Jaune wasn't sure how he should react. "I think?"

"Seriously, just take the compliment." Blake shot back at him. "That is what you were fishing for, right?"

"I just want to have a conversation."

"Well we're having one."

"This isn't what I had in mind."

"Then what did you have in mind?"

Now he was the one who didn't have an answer. He bit his lower lips.

Blake took a glimpse and could tell Jaune was unhappy with what was going on between them. He was easy to read, like an open book, which also told her that he was probably able to be likened to a knight in the tales. He was friendly, he was cheerful, and he was so truthful, a true straight arrow.

"I was thinking," Jaune said, "That we could actually have a conversation that doesn't steer into awkward or heated territory."

"I said it before." Blake swiped at a mosquito that was buzzing in her eyeline. "I'll say it again. I'm not a social butterfly."

"So that's it then?" Jaune shook his head. "There's nothing more to be said?"

"I'm not a conversationalist. That's it."

"We're talking now, aren't we?"

"That's not funny."

"Do I look like a clown to you?"

They had to get this under control before someone said something that was out of line. As though influenced by some force, they stopped to face each other, sapphire meeting gold, stare meeting stare, body facing body.

"Look, I don't want to fight right now, okay?" He relented, holding his hands up. "I just want to get through this initiation thing, maybe learn a bit about you. Is that so wrong?"

A pause.

A breath.

A blink.

No, it wasn't wrong.

It was exactly what she wanted.

"I get it." She slowly nodded, her eyes slightly narrowed. "I'll work on it. I'm not used to this."

"Then we'll work on it." Jaune calmly appeased. "It's not like I've got anything better to do."

With their problem resolved, at least temporarily, they hiked forth, no longer burdened with the pressure of trying to carry on stilted conversation..

They were silent once again, but this time, they were processing something that they had learned about each other.

Blake's defensiveness regarding almost everything made Jaune suspect that she likely held secrets. Ones that were potent enough to have her on edge with even innocent questions. Where there were secrets, there were things to know about a person. Now he wanted to know.

Blake had learned that Jaune wasn't quite the pushover she had imagined. He had compromised with her, seeking a path that attempted to remedy the situation for both parties involved.

Now she wasn't quite a mystery.

Now he wasn't quite a straight arrow.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

A hop, a skip, and a Grimm-infested forest away, there was a man up on a cliff with a coffee cup in one hand and a cane in the other hand. His eyes seemed to reflect an indifference that was unsurpassed. Whilst standing so still, the eyes of most would simply pass over him. He presented a pristine figure, with not even a hair out of place, let alone any flaw in his attire nor his demeanour. In appearance, mature and wise, yet not weakened by age.

By his side was a blonde, stern looking woman who was some years his junior. She held a scroll in both of her hands. Behind her glasses, green eyes glinted, constantly flitting about in relation to her assessment of student pairings. Her assessments were professional, with not a trace of personal opinion in place. She paced slowly, her cape fluttering in the light wind, and stop only stopped looking at her scroll to spare a glance at the scarf-clad man nearby.

"I am worried about this pair." She looked at her scroll carefully. "Jaune Arc and Blake Belladonna. They're not even at the temple yet and there's already conflict between them."

"Hmm." He didn't seem to be concerned in the least.

"But I suppose they were able to at least put that conflict aside." She gazed as the two students moved on. "We'll see if they can keep their issues to a minimum."

He said nothing to her.

"Ruby Rose and Nora Valkyrie." She enlarged another smaller feed. "They are quite the pair, but perhaps too similar in terms of energy. I fear for the lack of discipline that this will reinforce in them."

Still, he deigned not to speak.

"I suppose that it's too soon yet to see. They may surprise us yet. A great deal of pairings have in the past."

He just continued to stare off into the distance, not a single movement of his mouth. While she knew he was listening, but that still didn't make it any less irksome that he chose to act in this manner. He could be like this quite often.

"Lie Ren and Weiss Schnee." Her eyes softened slightly . "They're both very-well trained, disciplined, but with their personalities, they most likely won't make the most ideal match."

Silence.

"But they do seem to work just fine now. It'll have to do."

The final pairing alert sounded and her eyes widened slightly as she checked to see the two students that had formed.

"Pyrrha Nikos and Yang Xiao Long. They are the most promising students of this year. They will make quite the indomitable pair."

"…"

"All pairs have been formed." She shut off her scroll. "They will reach the temple soon. And speaking of which, what relics did you use this year?"  
"..."

"Professor Ozpin?"

Now she knew that something was going on inside that mind of his, but she hadn't known him to be this absorbed in the initiation of students, not to this extent and the last time had not been for years. . Someone here must have caught his eye.

"Apologies, Glynda." Ozpin turned his head to glance at her.

"No, sir. I understand." Glynda just accepted it. "I'll prepare for the arrival of the initiates."

"Please do so." He let her continue her work. "They'll be back soon."

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

Pyrrha Nikos was glad.

She had a partner, and by good fortune, said partner was also not fawning over her or asking for an autograph or going all starry-eyed. Either Yang was a fangirl who hid her desires well or she didn't know who she was or maybe she didn't even care.

Pyrrha hoped it was either of the latter two.

"Hear that?" Yang held a hand up. "Sounds like it came from that way."

"Gunfire." Pyrrha reported. "It looks like our comrades have found the Grimm."

"I wanna find those Grimm too." Yang pounded her fists in eagerness. "I wanna get that thrill of battle pumping through my blood."

Yang was definitely very enthusiastic about combat, something Pyrrha could understand on one hand having fought enjoyable battles in the Mistral Regional Tournaments, however Yang's lust for battle was a little odd. Just how much did that thrill matter to the blond-haired girl?

"So what's your story Pyrrha?" Yang smiled at her. "A girl like you has got to have some admirers."

"Well…" To Pyrrha, the question sounded innocent. "I do admit that I've gotten more than my fair share."

"Well there's a first we can agree on." Yang snorted. "You wouldn't believe the number of guys and girls that drool over me."

"I can understand why they would." Pyrrha took yet another appraising look at Yang. "You've certainly got quite the figure."

"Thanks." Yang gazed at her partner too. "You're pretty easy on the eyes if I do say so myself."

"Thank you. You're too kind."

"It's not kindness. Just the truth."

"Well thank you regardless."

"Wow, you are quite the humble character."

"I suppose I am."

"I like that. It's getting really rare to see that."

"Really?"

"Really. Take it from a girl who's been around."

It shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise to Pyrrha, but the way Yang described the lack of humble people in the world suggested that humility was dying. That didn't seem to be possible, unless she was really that disconnected from the world.

Pyrrha paused. "Wait, what do you mean that you've been around?"

"Ah, don't you worry about that." Yang waved her off nonchalantly. "It's mostly boring stuff anyways, not something you'd be interested in."

"Of course." Pyrrha flipped her hair a bit.

Their journey had been filled with only occasional Grimm and Yang losing herself in anger upon their encounter with the Grimm.. When Pyrrha had asked, her partner had explained the battle lust, and all was made very clear. When asked if she had her own trigger, the spartan shook her head, satisfying the brawler's curiosity.

"You know," Yang said, "I think we're gonna be the best set of partners in our class."

"How do you know," Pyrrha inquired, "There are quite a few students here. How are we guaranteed to be the best?"

"Simple." Yang pointed to her. "I've seen you fight in those tournaments. You've got mad skills that I respect. Plus, I've been trained by two huntsmen. Trust me, I can hold my own in a fight against most people."

"I see that you're not lacking for confidence." Pyrrha gestured back.

"You gotta have confidence if you wanna win." Yang readjusted her hair. "And I always win."

"That is true." Pyrrha felt the response was lame.

When her partner made no further mention of her lackluster response, the redhead breathed an internal sigh of relief. Her partner fully knew who she was, yet didn't turn into a complete fangirl like so many had. When was the last time she had seen that?

"I was hoping to find other people by now." said Pyrrha, giving voice to her thoughts.

"They'll be somewhere around here soon." Yang reassured, looking left and right. "I mean, we're all going to same place."

"The Grimm must be delaying them." Pyrrha reasoned. "I don't see many other reasons for them to be held back."

"Who knows?" Yang shrugged. "With all of the personalities we saw at the school, there could be a whole lot of crazy going on."

"I suppose so."

"You don't have to suppose. It's just how school is. Surely, you know that."

"Well," Pyrrha rubbed the back of her head. "I, uh, wasn't one to interact with others in school."

"What?" Yang gaped slightly. "How could you not? I mean, with that personality and your good looks, what's not to like?"

"It's nothing of that sort." Pyrrha quickly assured. "It's a bit more complicated than that."

"I get it." Yang nodded. "Fans, they can be a big pain. Don't worry, you'll get none of that from me. I get enough of that as it is."

"Of course."

"And drop the formalities with me. We're friends here, partner."

Friend. Such a casual way of saying that word.

Pyrrha felt like she couldn't keep up with this conversation at the pace that Yang was setting. This girl was just bursting with energy left, right and center. Either that, or her own social skills were more lacking than she had originally thought. Or maybe it was both. A friend was what she wanted most, more if possible though she needed at least one friend first to know that she could still have someone to talk to.

Yang seemed to have taken the lead, and Pyrrha followed, not really concerned as of right now. There had been no reason for concern yet. Her partner seemed like a good person and she was okay herself. Unless something changed, she would just see what would come of her new partnership. Hopefully luck favored her this day.

The sounds of Grimm in the distance put both of them on alert, but no weapons were drawn. They were too far away to be affecting them directly.

"This way." Yang pointed a thumb. "Hopefully, we're closer than I think we are."

It wasn't friendship yet, but it was a start, far better than what she was used to in the first few minutes of talk between herself and a stranger.

Like training, friendship required time and effort, she was sure, and she was never one to take the easy path. Though trusting each other with their lives was certainly an unorthodox way of laying the foundation for a friendship.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

"Someone was here before." Blake touched a hand to the tracks, gathering a layer of dirt to examine. "This dirt is still loose. Whoever was here hasn't been gone too long."

"Whether we find them or not doesn't matter." Jaune looked around them. "We still have to find a relic. We can worry about other students later."

Yes, Blake could get behind him on that, but knowing that teammates were inevitable, she wanted to argue that they should seek out any potential hunters. Then something came back to Blake: there was no instructions as to how teams would be formed, only partners. Why would Professor Ozpin neglect to mention this? Or did he not mention this on purpose because he already had a system for making teams and he simply didn't tell the students? The man didn't strike her as someone who simply forgot things.

"Yeah." Blake stood up, brushing off her hand. "We need to get out of the woods."

"I think I see a clearing this way." Jaune took lead.

Apart from reporting things such as their position and their surroundings, both of them had kept quiet, though it wasn't what either of them wanted.

So maybe their first real conversation was more childish than they liked to admit, but what could be expected from two teenagers who didn't have strong connections to society? Even now, they couldn't bear to look each other in the eye for more than a glance.

In retrospect, maybe Blake shouldn't have done all of this, a small sense of guilt creeping in. However, she was in too deep now. It's not as though she could just back out now, and neither could Jaune. His career as a huntsman depended on it. He wasn't about to give that up, she could see that from a mile away, so she still retained some form of control over him. She wondered how long it would take him to forget that she had that over him, or would he remember her warning? If the roles were reversed, she wouldn't ever forget it.

Blake was thankful that Jaune wasn't very observant of her, otherwise he'd see a very obvious frown marring her face.

Jaune, in his little corner, was more than a little busy. Although his eyes and ears were looking for signs of anything amiss, he couldn't help that his mind was roaming. If Blake would talk to him, he wouldn't have to wonder like this, so he had to settle for talking to himself.

It was frustrating that they weren't hitting it off with their "friendship," not like he wished. His opinion of her was mixed. On the one hand, he got this aura thing that made him feel like a million lien. On the other hand, she was rather blunt and snippy, not things he thought to be good social qualities. So overall his opinion of her was neutral so far.

They had both promised to settle their difference once the initiation was over, with each of them depending on the other to get out alive, and that meant they would have to protect each other by any means necessary.

"So where did you learn how to fight?" Blake's question caught Jaune off guard, though his face was turned away, so she failed to notice.

"From my sisters." Jaune paused, as if to reconsider his answer. "And a bit from my parents."

"So, that equipment you have." She gestured to his sword and sheathe/shield. "You stole it."

"I borrowed it." Jaune replied back sharply. "I don't steal."

Against her better nature, Blake adopted a small smirk. It was kind of amusingly cute to see her partner trying to defend himself. So, there was definitely some fun to be had.

"So, what exactly did your family teach you?" Blake decided to continue. "Your fighting is extremely… limited."

"Come on, give me some credit." Jaune threw his hands up. "I stayed cool, didn't I?"

"This time, maybe, but you've got a long way to go if you want to be a warrior, let alone a huntsman." Blake flipped her hair back. "Most people would've given up on you by now. I even thought about it."

"Yet you're still here." Jaune stopped walking. "Why?"  
Blake stopped, tilted her head to show that she was responding to him. "Challenging causes are my kind of thing."

"You don't seem the type to help someone out of the goodness of your heart." Jaune observed. "You seem like the type that's…"

"That's what?" She whirled around. "What type am I?"  
He sensed some bitterness in her words, like she was expecting an insult from him, and now that he thought about it, his words were probably interpreted as insulting to her. It wasn't his intent, but it was what it was.

He pressed his lips together. "You seem driven by something else. I dunno, something about you… can't put my finger on it."

She said nothing on his words and didn't respond with any facial expression, but at least she wasn't as upset as she was seconds ago, but even as he said those words, made-up as they were, he did actually start questioning them himself.

"Jaune." Blake called to him.

Jaune snapped back. "Sorry?"

"Over here." She pointed to the edge of the forest. "Think we've found it."

He could count himself lucky that she already seemed to view them as partners that couldn't be separated. She could have just said I, yet she mentioned him as well, so she did value him in a way. That was at least some form of respite to her teasing.

Still, he joined her as she surveyed the open area around them. The thing that immediately drew both their eyes was a single ruined structure in the middle of an otherwise flat area. Blake didn't like it one bit. It was open, too wide open, and Grimm could come from virtually all angles. Even Jaune could pick up on this.

"Think it's a trap?" Jaune couldn't help but question it.

"Oh, it's a trap alright." Blake brandished Gambol and Shroud. "And a pretty lousy one at that, if we can see it."

"That doesn't make me feel better." Jaune drew Crocea Mors, sunlight reflecting off the heirloom. "Then if we're going in, can we at least do this carefully."

"I didn't get this far in life by being reckless." Blake looked behind them. "Take point. I'll cover your six."

She certainly seemed dead set on him taking lead. This had to be her way of forcing him into combat. If it were up to him, he'd have her leading him. A more experienced and better trained fighter seemed the more logical choice. Still, he was alive, and he had gotten them here, so she could just be giving him lead simply because he was doing well so far.

Seeing he had no choice regardless of the reasons, he carefully slid down the hill and came to a stop at the base, and she followed suit. Still not a Grimm or person in sight. The air around them was still, calm, and serene, and strangely enough, it wasn't out of place. It was the right type of silence, not an alien one.

Their next few steps was a test for both of them to see if their senses were falsifying what they perceived. They proceeded at a casual pace belying the fact that they were holding weapons, ready for combat. Just two people walking along.

They were now close enough to see exactly what this place was.

"Check this out." Blake lowered her weapon.

Following her lead, Jaune directed his attention to what she had found.

This was the temple that they had been instructed to find, but there were no relics to be found anywhere. At the very center of the ruin, however, stood a single pedestal with a rough paper map of what appeared to be the Emerald Forest.

"What are these?" Jaune asked.

"Maybe where the relics are located." Blake touched a hand to the map. "Look here. The number of spots dotted doesn't account for all the students."

"But there aren't enough for it to be for just partners too?" Jaune counted all of the markings. "These have got to be for teams."

"You're right." Blake scrutinized the map some more. "Unless the relics are paired."

"Wouldn't that be sorta dumb?" Jaune scratched his head. "I mean, isn't it a pair's job to get their own relic?"

"That's what Professor Ozpin said." Blake remembered the man's instructions. "But we can't simply take his words at face value."

"So what now?"

"..."

"You don't know." Jaune suggested.

"I didn't say that." Blake looked at him annoyed.

"Didn't have to." He looked over his shoulders. "I know that look."

"That's not…" Now she sounded defensive. "What's your point?"

"Look." He was more interested in where they'd come from. "Something's coming."

Forgoing her moment, Blake looked to see what Jaune was pointing out. From out of the woods came a Death Stalker chasing a redheaded girl, but it looked like another girl was contending with its pincers.

"That looks dangerous." Jaune held his sword at the ready.

"It is." Blake looked flabbergasted. "Just what are they thinking?"

"We gotta help them." Jaune moved forward.

"Now hold on there." Blake spun him around. "Just where are you going?"

"To help."

"You're lucky to survive the first time with virtually no preparations." Blake reminded him. "This is something else entirely."

"You said it yourself." Jaune reminded her. "I've gotta learn fast, so why not take on something like this?"

"Because you'll die." Blake was amazed by his seeming stubbornness. "Does your life not matter."

"I'm done hanging on the sidelines." Jaune shrugged her off. "And you're not going to stop me."

She bit her lip. "Apparently not."

The both turned their heads away from each other. The two girls were holding it off, but not damaging the massive Grimm.

"Ideas?" Jaune looked to her nervously.

"Death Stalkers are armored all around." Blake reported to him. "None of our weapons are going to do any real damage. We'd need some serious firepower, or a really sharp weapon."

"No weaknesses?" Jaune asked back.

"Well, the entire body is armored. You could aim for joints, but I don't think that's going to fly considering they're so tiny."

"So, it's body is a no go." Jaune repeated in simpler terms.

"And that stinger is instant death." Blake added. "Avoiding that thing is a big yes. Same for the claws and pincer jaws."

"It's close quarters." Jaune summed up.

As they traded comments, it dawned on Blake that Jaune had completely changed his tone, like he wasn't just dumbing down her words. He sounded more serious than she'd ever heard him before.

"What's that mind of yours thinking?" Blake watched the two girls continue to battle.

"I got it!" Jaune grinned. "We hit the legs!"

Blake frowned. "Is that it?"

"We can't make many dents in its body armor, so we have to go for the parts that aren't armored." Jaune explained his logic. "Unless the legs are armored too."

"Not as much as the body." Blake considered his idea. "But even if we cut it down, it'll still have weapons to fight with."

"I was getting to that part. If we can just get it to hold still for a moment, we can slice it from underneath."

"You want to get under that thing? You really are suicidal."

"So, it's vulnerable under there."

"Never tried attacking it from under."

"Then I guess we'll find out."

She wasn't sure about him, but he seemed somewhat self-assured, and she supposed that it was enough for now.

With sword and shield in hand, he charged first, and she followed, wielding her weapon in pistol form to take some glancing shots near the eyes of the massive scorpion Grimm. That was enough to grab the attention of the redhead.

"Don't get too close!" The girl cried to the partners.

"What're you talking about?!" The blonde girl cried out. "I'm doin' it!"

Both yellow and black ignored the chatter and continued with their attack. The Death Stalker struck with its left pincer, which Jaune met with the flat of his shield, the force of the attack felt jarring yet he was able to block the blow. Blake followed up by sideswiping the next thrust of the pincer. Her weapon loaded with fire dust, she increased her speed via aura and struck at the legs. She managed to cut the first leg on its right before she was forced to dodge again to avoid being crushed under its behemoth mass.

Although not down, it was destabilized by this unexpected successful attack. Yang reluctantly disengaged from the enemy to regroup with Pyrrha.

"We could use some help here!" Jaune called out to them, engaged in a war of wills with the Death Stalker, trying to push back an obsidian pincer whilst it proceeded to try and crush him to a paste.

"And since when were you made leader?" The blonde called out in challenge.

"Because it's his idea that's actually amounting to anything!" Blake's words could be heard, even as she whipped through the air. "So help!"

The partners couldn't be bothered to see if the two girls would respond. Both huntsman and huntress worked together now, seeing that the Death Stalker was trying to protect its legs from further assault.

Blake tried an aerial strike, contending with the stinger that tried to split her apart. Parrying a few of the Grimm's strikes, she swung herself with her ribbon to continue firing at it. Jaune, from below, took the chance to use the distraction.

Luck it seemed was not on his side as a pincer slammed into him and tossed him like a ragdoll. Blake saw this, but she was unable to help him as the Deathstalker tried again to kill her.

Having been thrown some distance away, the knight made sure he was still in once piece before charging again.

The two girls before had rejoined the fight, having derived a plan of attack. The blonde one attacked with cries and shotgun rounds and punches and no strategy. The redhead, one the other hand, struck with calculated strikes, shots, and shield tosses.

 _I need to learn how to shield toss._ A quick glance at his kite shield made him feel a bit of envy. _That is, if this thing can even do that._

Shaking his head and getting back into focus, Jaune pulled himself up. The three girls distracting the Death Stalker had to be enough for him to engage in close quarters. So, with all the strength he could muster, he closed in yet again.

This time, he was able to leverage a strike on another leg, this one on its left side. Balance skewed from the loss of limbs, the large Grimm lowered itself to try and stabilize itself. Although it wasn't part of his plan, the boy fell to the ground, his eyes registering the underside of the Grimm. He didn't move a muscle at first, allowing the looming darkness to stretch above him.

Fear gripped at him.

Then he felt Crocea Mors in his hands.

 _I can do this._

With this infusion of courage, he swung upwards to stab into the softer underside.

The Death Stalker shrieked in surprised pain, innards spilling from the deep gash which made him almost shout in victory.

Then he realized too late that the thing was going to collapse on him.

* * *

 **I feel like I'm looking at the overwhelming positive response to "One-Night Brand" all over again. This decision to start this story was a good one, and if this keeps up, it'll become a story of primary focus, and I hope to only continue to deliver the best chapters possible.**

 **Some people pointed out to me that Blake's paranoia is a bit much. I would say that Blake's paranoia is too much when she can't even make relationships or maintain relationships; for now, things are okay.**

 **I want to give a special thanks to my beta-readers listed at the top. Their help has been immensely appreciated and I hope they stick with me in the future.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and remember:**

 _ **"Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity."**_

 **Khalil Gibran**

 **Peace!**


	3. Chapter 3: Golden Time

Beta-Readers: **Jauneforever** (Ideas), **G-Unot** (Grammar and Ideas), **GoldenArbiter** (Grammar)

Chapter 3: Golden Time

 **Emerald Forest**

 **Kingdom of Vale**

 **Beacon Academy Initiation**

Blake's eyes widened, having gained a short reprieve only to see the Death Stalker succumbing to the damage and collapsing, threatening to crush her under it's mammoth bulk. She wasn't sure if it was the many wounds that had finally downed it or one fatal wound that overcame it. An agile roll saw her escape, giving her time to reassess the situation.

Where was Jaune? The last she could recall clearly was that he had been charging to re-enter the fray with the giant scorpion Grimm.

His plan came back to her memories, in which he had detailed how-

 _Oh no, he didn't actually go through with that ridiculous plan of his… did he?_

The rattling of chitin interrupted her thoughts as the massive Grimm finally hit the ground. Not even a second later, the creature hissed its last breath.

"Son of a…" She had just seen him reach an all-new level of stupidity. "You'd better not be dead, Jaune."

She rushed past Yang and Pyrrha who had gathered to survey the dead Grimm, and began to search for any signs of Jaune. Maybe she would find one of his weapons along the edges, or maybe she would find—

"You okay, Blake?" Yang called out. "What are you even looking for?"

Blake rounded her body. "Are you blind and deaf? My Partner is UNDER this thing!"

"What do you… oh my." Pyrrha said, understanding dawning on her as she joined the search.

 _How the hell am I going to spot him under something this big?_ Blake contemplated the situation. Even with his aura, he wasn't going to be able to survive the weight of something like this. It just wasn't possible.

If that were the case, then he was gone.

 _It's probably better this way. He was going to die sooner or later._

It was a cold comfort. Blake clenched her fist, berating herself for such an evil thought. Sure, Jaune could be an idiot at times, but he didn't deserve this. Nobody did.

Plus, they were partners, and they had a deal. They had so much to do.

"He's not dead." She tried to reassure herself. "He'd better not be."

Her eyes then noticed something they hadn't seen before. A white outline was visible around the silhouette of the decomposing Death Stalker, where the viridian grass and the obsidian creature met. She had never seen this phenomenon before when she had fought Grimm in the past. However insignificant it seemed, it merited investigation on the basis of being something completely new to her.

Blake dropped Gambol and Shroud, rushing up to the recently deceased Grimm and began to push against its weight with all that she had. While her aura enhanced strength was not insignificant, it simply wasn't enough. Fortunately Pyrrha and Yang caught on quickly, moving to assist her in the arduous endeavour. The combined strength of the three girls incrementally rolled the Grimm over slowly.

When the space between the Grimm and the ground became larger, the white outline faded away, replaced a dull glow. The more they pushed, the more movement this appeared to elicit from the source of the luminescence.

Blake struggled to see precisely what was underneath, and only too late did she recognise the sensation of something striking her feet, causing her to collapse. With the sudden change in equilibrium, both Yang and Pyrrha followed suit unable to adjust to increased pressure from the bulky Grimm, although they were able to maneuver as to avoid being crushed by the corpse of the Death Stalker.

The Faunus girl knew instinctively that had she hit the ground, it would have been far more unforgiving on her back, than the relatively soft and warm surface that absorbed her impact.

"Oooffhh!" A pained groan emanated from underneath her, sounding like the cries of a mortally injured animal.

"Blake please get off me!" The muffled voice sounded very familiar to her sensitive ears.

She jumped off in fright, then looked down to see that it was indeed Jaune Arc, with all his gear, looking worse for wear with deep scratches and some blood stained on his clothes, but still very much alive. She let herself breathe a sigh of relief.

The tension seeped from her face, with her usual neutral expression reasserting itself.

"That… really hurt." Jaune tried to dust himself off as he rose. "I mean, I thought that I'd be permanently turned into a pancake, but I'm relatively ok...I guess."

"It certainly is curious." Blake looked him from head to toe. "But we'll deal with that later."

"Okay, so what we we-" Jaune began.

Then he felt a stinging slap impact his cheek.

"Don't ever do that again." Blake still had her hand extended. "You hear me? Never. Heroics like that are going to get you killed."

"I did a number on it, didn't I?" Jaune gestured to fruits of his effort. "I mean, it's dead."

"And you almost went with it." Blake retorted with a creased brow.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he replied bashfully.

"Are you two done?" Yang interrupted their reunion. "As touching as this is and I hate to break up your little reunion but we've got relics to find."

Realizing that they were no longer alone, the moment was lost as they focused on the task ahead.

"About that." Jaune patted his hair down. "We think there might be a bit more to it than that."

"Meaning what?" Pyrrha joined in.

"We found a map that appears to be the location of where all artifacts are located." Blake crossed her arms, a small frown marring her face. "Really, it's not going to be that hard to go after them."

"Then are we waiting for?" Yang spoke, pounding her fists together in eagerness. "Let's go get em'."

"Yeah but wait, there's more." Jaune raised his hands to try and calm the rambunctious girl down. "We think the relics might be paired together."

"And that's a bad thing?" Yang gave him a pointed look. "Shouldn't that make things easier for all of us?"

"If relics are paired together, it must be for a reason." Blake chimed in with her own thoughts. "This may be not just a test for partners, but potentially for teams."

"You suspect that it is on purpose?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes." Jaune and Blake simultaneously concluded.

With all of the presumed facts laid out, the four of them took a moment to process the situation. Each of them turned to each other, looking to see if they had all come to the same conclusion.

Whilst nobody had any objections, verbal or otherwise, there wasn't an immediate eagerness to work together, at least none that any of them could see.

Jaune decided to break the ice. "So, team up or what?"

The girls gave him a considering glance, which made him feel a little odd. Still, he held his cool, waiting for their response.

"I'm your partner, aren't I?" Blake stepped up. "Where you go, I follow."

"Why not?" Yang shrugged nonchalantly. "You've held up alright so far."

"Well if Yang goes, I'll go too." Pyrrha confirmed. "I don't see any problems with this arrangement."

"Well, that went smoother than I thought." Jaune pointed to the temple. "Come on, let's check for locations before we decide where to go next."

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

Seconds were the deciding factor in battle.

Ruby Rose knew this better than most and more than once, her battles had been decided by seconds.

Her newest friend and partner Nora seemed to understand this as well, albeit in a different manner. She might not have a semblance that granted her speed, but boy did that girl know how to kill hordes of Grimm in record time. Everything from Beowolves to Ursai to Boarbatusks lay slain, all slowly turning into black mist.

Ruby didn't think that Nora had speed as a semblance.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Maniacal laughter echoed throughout the forest, the childish voice promising pain to the inhabitants of the forest. "FEAR ME, CREATURES OF GRIMM!"

"Wait, Nora!" Ruby called out. "Wait for me!"

"But if I wait, the Grimm will get away!" Nora cried out all the while grinning cheekily. "I need to slay them now!"

And now Nora was having more fun killing Grimm than she was. It was like the ginger haired girl sought to beat her at the things she was good at.

With a huff, Ruby activated her semblance, looking like she had disappeared into a flurry of petals and rushed forward, crimson scythe at the ready to chain a combo attack. A Beowolf in her path met its end with a swift decapitation but she had to halt her attack abruptly as Nora jumped into her path, swinging her disproportionately large hammer to crush the snarling Beowolf beneath her.

The scythe-wielder surveyed her surroundings to find that yes, the bubbly girl was having a fun day thus far and no, the Grimm pancake was not.

Ruby wanted to throw a fit. That was a perfectly good chance to show off her combo move! Bummer.

Collapsing Crescent Rose and replacing the weapon in it's back holster, she rejoined her partner who was busy brushing herself off.

"Now to find Ren!" Nora chirped, putting her hand to her eyes to block some sunlight. "Team's not complete without the sloth king you know?"

"Ren? Sloth King?" Ruby didn't know that name. "Who's that? What's that?"

"My childhood friend." Nora quickly explained. "You know, black hair, magenta eyes, green clothing, any of this ringing a bell?"

Ruby drew a blank. "Nah, not really."

"Aw, then you've gotta meet him. I'm sure he'll like you."

"Sounds great."

It had occurred to Ruby that neither her nor Nora had engaged in any meaningful conversation ever since they had met up. This was the first time that the two of them were talking.

"So what's your favorite food?" Nora stretched her arms. "Mine's pancakes."

"I like cookies and strawberries." Ruby chimed in. "Or both."

"Cookies and strawberries are good, especially in pancakes." Nora hummed as if tasting the food through memory alone. "Strawberry toppings are AWESOME!"

"They are, aren't they!" Ruby acquiesced exuberantly. "What doesn't go good with them?"

"I dunno!" Nora was just was excited. "Like nothing!"

"Exactly!" Finally, someone who understood her. Ruby felt so elated. "People think I'm crazy!"

"Me too!" Nora laughed. "Of course, except Ren, because he's cool. We're cool."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Ruby questioned.

"What?! No!" Nora cried out, her face stricken with grief. "I mean, not that he isn't handsome and intelligent and good in a fight, but we're not together-together. Just together."

"Um...right. That makes sense?" Ruby tilted her head. "I guess?"

"Great!" Nora wrapped her arms around Ruby in a bear hug and squeezed. "You and I are gonna be besties!"

"Yeah, sure." Ruby suddenly felt the extra cookies she had this morning starting to come back up. "But please… Nora… can't…breathe…killing...me."

"Whoops." Nora unceremoniously dropped the red-hooded reaper. "Sorry, Ren keeps reminding me not to do that."

Ruby took a long breath, making sure nothing had been broken. "It's okay. I do it all the time."

"What, killing people?" Nora asked innocently. "Because that would mean that you're a murderer."

"What?! No!" Ruby squealed, an outraged expression crossing her face. "Do I look like a murderer to you?"

"Nope, you're too cute for that." Nora began to circle around the silver-eyed girl. "But then again, you could be using the cuteness as a disguise. I once watched this show about a serial killer that used her good looks to fool people into trusting her before she killed them."

Ruby paused. "Wait, that happened?"

"What happened?" Nora queried.

"What you just said." Ruby shot back.

Nora looked stumped. "What did I say?"

"You just said…" Ruby reconsidered what she was about to say. "You don't remember?"

"Nope. Do you?" Nora asked, putting a finger to her chin, appearing deep in thought.

"Nope." Ruby only eagerly took the opportunity. "How about we keep going?"

"Okie dokie, Boss Lady." Nora saluted.

"Boss Lady?" That was new for Ruby.

"Yeah, you know, because you're leading us n'stuff. I dunno, seemed like something I should call you. Don't wanna lead."

"Why not?" Ruby inquired.

"Eh, don't really wanna." Nora answered simply. "Less time for pancakes, take your pick."

"Well, okay then…"

With a shrug of her shoulders, Ruby took point and didn't pay Nora much mind. The girl seemed to be able to hold her own. If anything, the Grimm were probably more afraid of her than the other way around.

Nora didn't need anyone watching her.

"So I see that hammer of yours has a modification for a grenade launcher too?" Ruby ventured.

"Yep!" Nora grinned from ear to ear. "Locked and loaded with the very best ammo courtesy of the Schnee Dust Company."

"Schnee…" Ruby knew that name somewhere. "You mean like Weiss Schnee, white haired girl, heiress to the SDC or whatever?"

"Yeah, her!" Nora acknowledged. "Wait, you've seen her?!"

"I think she's attending this academy." Ruby remembered running into her yesterday. "She's… interesting."

"Double cool!" Nora chirped. "She must be really cool, though why isn't she going to the Atlas Academy? She would be practically royalty there!"

"Yeah…" Ruby wasn't quite sure what to say. "I don't know…"

"Aw man, you didn't get the pun." Nora pouted and whined. "C'mon, Weiss Schnee, she's from the frozen lands of Atlas, has that cool semblance."

"I'm not a big fan of puns." Ruby explained. "You try living with my sister for fifteen years and you'll never want to hear another one either."

"So she's funny?" Nora asked hopefully.

"No, she's not." Ruby replied bluntly.

"I reserve judgement." Nora dismissed her partner's claim.

"Prepare to be disappointed," Ruby countered, "Severely."

"It's not nice to say that about your sister." Nora chided.

"Look, I love my big sister, but even I have to draw a line." Ruby explained.

Nora accepted this answer and continue along, singing a little tune.

Well, they were talking a lot, so that had to be a good thing. It would seem that Nora was already accepting of Ruby. No criticizing, no complaining, and no negativity like some of Yang's friends from Signal. Trust didn't appear to be an issue here. They both, in a way, had similar personalities although Ruby wasn't quite so happy go lucky.

That was a good thing. No trust issues meant more smooth sailing and less things to worry about.

The sound of the Grimm made Ruby look around. It sounded far off, but more importantly, it sounded like there were a lot calling out at once.

Whoever was fighting them, Monty Oum protect them.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

Weiss Schnee thought that she knew everything that was to know about boys. After all, she was someone who constantly found herself surrounded by boys and men trying to win her hand in marriage.

In all cases, she had shut them down rather humiliatingly; that was something that her father scolded her for doing and she continued to ignore him on the matter.

Now, as she stared at the back of Lie Ren's head, she began to wonder if he was even a boy to begin with. The whole time, he hadn't even really bothered to get a good look at her. Sure, he had made eye contact as were the rules for forming partners, but that was it.

Now he led them through the forest, quiet as a ghost. If she couldn't see him, she wouldn't even know he was there.

Well… no time like the present.

"How far do you think we need to go?" Weiss felt her voice falter.

"I would say we're about half a mile away." Ren pointed in the direction they were heading. "Although that's a guess, judging by the size of the forest."

He continued to walk and not offer any form of conversation. She frowned at this. A silent journey to the temple was not what she had in mind.

"Not much of a conversationalist?" Weiss ventured.

"I'm sorry that I don't have a lot to say." Ren looked back to her. "It's just that I've never been one to talk a lot."

"I understand." Weiss didn't really understand, but there it was. "I'll try not to talk too much."

"I didn't say that I don't like talking." Ren stopped, facing her fully. "I just said I'm not one to talk myself."

"Oh." Weiss felt a bit stupid at the assumption. "Well, I suppose I will do the talking from here on out."

"Please do." Ren agreed. "Having a multitude of people to talk to is refreshing. Plus, I doubt you can come up with anything as crazy as Nora can."

"Nora?" Weiss didn't know who that was.

"A childhood friend. She's a bit scatterbrained and really energetic. You don't strike me as that type."

"Not in the least." Weiss admitted while shaking her head. "Truthfully, I've been a bit sheltered from the world, so if I seem a bit… agitated, please… don't take it offensively."

"I don't think you can offend me." He appeared unaffected by her answer. "With Nora, I've prepared for virtually everything. I'm sure that we'll get along just fine."

"Thank you." Weiss smiled. "I… appreciated the assurance."

He gestured to their path. "Shall we?"

"Of course." She was quick to respond.

They began their walk again. Having established a small connection with her parner, Weiss decided to go with a basic conversational approach.

"So where do you come from, Ren?"

"Mistral. I've been more or less on my own along with Nora. We kept each other alive."

Weiss was interested so far. "Sounds like you two have been through a lot."

"We have." Ren chuckled lightly as he recalled the memories. "We probably wouldn't be alive if not for each other."

"She's here I take it then?" Weiss asked.

"Yes. I'm sure you'll be well acquainted with her." Ren replied.

That sounded really ominous coming from him, like it could be a good or bad thing when they met. She would have to look more into the matter.

More importantly, she was interested with how Ren spoke of this Nora. It sounded like he trusted her without question.

That level of trust seemed so far off to her at times. How many people could she say that she trusted with her life? Only one for certain, but even Winter could no longer be in that position, though certainly not due to an unwillingness.

But wasn't that the whole point of leaving Atlas though? To make new friends, to forge new bonds of trust that she could depend on?

"I see…" Weiss's words sounded dubious at best. "I think."

"You seem troubled." Ren had made a casual speculation, but one that struck a nerve.

"I'm sorry, it's just that..." Weiss hesitated before speaking more. "I'm reminded of my older sister."

Ren nodded. "Ah, I see."

"I guess in a way, she's about the only person I trust with my life."

"So would it be accurate to say that you're looking for more people to call friend?" His inflection showed no trace of emotion.

"...Yes." A difficult thing for her to admit to out loud.

A pause. "Well, we're partners for the next four years, so why not start here?" He offered.

"Here?" Weiss was a bit put off.

"We're going to depend on each other for the years at Beacon, probably even after we graduate too. We might as well start with becoming friends now."

Yes, it made sense. Being a hunter of the Creatures of Grimm did require that people trust each other to a degree that few comprehended.

And Ren seemed like an okay sort so far.

"I suppose so." She agreed somewhat reluctantly.

"You seem hesitant." He noted, tilting his head to the left. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"No, it's nothing like that." She didn't look him in the eye. "I'm just not used to such casual talk."

"I think I understand. You and I are different. We come from different lives, but being different is okay. We can help each other with what the other doesn't know. Who knows, we may even discover that we have more things in common than we realize."

Those words made Weiss falter in her apprehension.

"If you're wondering if I'm judging you, then don't." Ren said, giving his full attention to his partner. "Your family name isn't what I'm thinking about. It's about who you are as a person."

He sounded genuine. She wanted to believe he did.

Ren held out his hand. "So how about a proper introduction. My name is Lie Ren. I hope we can become great friends."

She regarded the hand. Once she took this path, she wouldn't know what to expect. Looking back to her partner, he just waited for her. There was no emotion to his face, simply a patient stare. He would wait for her until she gave an answer.

It was only polite to let him know her decision, one that had already been made for her. She didn't want to be alone.

"My name is Weiss Schnee." Weiss took his hand and shook it firmly. "And I hope too, that we will become close friends."

They made eye contact, their hands still firmly held together. Weiss felt her dread leave her. Whatever assuring factor had caused her to become more confident in this relationship, she wanted to thank it.

She had a good feeling about the future. She wasn't sure if her decision to come to Beacon was completely right, but so far, she had no major complaints.

"Alright." Ren let go. "We should get moving. We can talk more on the way. It wouldn't hurt to get to know you more."

"I'm not entirely comfortable with telling my story." She stated.

"Neither am I, but I'll try."

"... okay. I come from Atlas…"

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

All four of them had expected a challenge. They were hunters in training, and that title carried with it expectations of overcoming said challenge.

The objective was at the top of a hill, which sported another temple, albeit smaller than the previous one found. This was most likely the place where they would find a relic or relics if their earlier conclusion was correct.

That wasn't what made them falter.

"Well, this is just frickin' great." Yang commented, cracked her knuckles with a frown. "I knew we were gonna fight Grimm, but not like this."

"Yes, it does seem a bit excessive." Pyrrha remarked, biting her lips. "But this is the place, just as the map indicated."

"This must be what the teams are for." Blake considered as she crossed her arms. "Partners couldn't hope to get through that."

"Guys." Jaune got their attention. "We need to focus. We still have to do this, and we're going to, one way or another."

The three girls looked at their unofficial leader like he had grown a second head. Surely he wasn't just going to roll with this?

"Um, are you seeing the same thing we're seeing in front of us?" Condescension colored Yang's tone as she slung an arm around her fellow blond, pointing with her free hand. "All of that black? That's not dead vegetation. That's a veritable small country of Grimm, all of it."

"Yes, I know what it is." Jaune rolled his eyes in exasperation. "And I'm still saying that we're going through it."

"Should we not reconsider this?" Pyrrha inquired. "Even with the four of us, getting through this will be… difficult."

"And that's a generous term to call this… disaster." Blake didn't hold back on her opinion. "So unless you've got some _grand_ master plan, Jaune, then I say we turn back and find a more obtainable relic."

Jaune chose to stay silent, instead keeping his eyes on the plethora of Grimm before him, trying to convert it into a metaphorical chess to try and discern a strategy. Then something caught his eye.

"How are you all in terms of energy?" Jaune tapped his fingers on his sword hilt.

"You mean aura?" Blake asked for clarification.

"Yeah, aura." Jaune answered quickly. "I meant to say that."

"Almost at max." Yang flexed her free arm.

"Same as her." Pyrrha said next.

"I'm good." Blake shrugged.

Another moment of silence pervaded and then Jaune leant back on the balls of his feet. "We're never going to be able to fight that many Grimm ourselves."

"Gee, you come up with that on on your own?" Yang laughed mockingly, ruffling his hair with her knuckles, causing him to wince in pain. "Anything else you wanna share with the class Professor Arc?"

"I wasn't finished yet, Yang was it?" The blond boy glared at her, unamused. "We don't necessarily have to fight them all. We just need to clear a path to the relic."

"Is this leading somewhere?" Blake eyed her partner questioningly.

"We just need to carve a path big enough to get through their ranks and retrieve the relic, at the top of that hill. We're not looking to fight all of the Grimm. If we're fast enough, we can simply power through their ranks before they have a chance to counter us."

"That's… not a bad idea." Pyrrha rubbed her chin in thought.

"I'm sensing a 'but." Jaune sighed.

"That's still a lot of Grimm." Yang beat the redhead to the punch. "I mean, yeah, we could cut a path, but we'd have to be really fast about it. The Grimm aren't exactly slouches."

"That's the whole point." The knight extracted the brawler's arm from his personal space. "Weren't you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard, but it doesn't make it any less tough." Yang replied back.

"So you can't do it?" Jaune sounded deflated.

"I didn't say that." Yang threw him a frown.

"Good enough." He was leaning on faith now, a dangerous thing to be doing. "Anyone else have any objections?"

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Blake once again voiced her concern. "I mean, have you even thought this through? What happens if the Grimm overwhelm us? Can't we try and go around?"

"We'll be here all day if we do that." Jaune asserted, his eyes quickly darting across the terrain. "We'll need to chance a direct approach."

"And you're sure there's no better way?" The black-haired girl demanded again.

"Look, Blake, I don't want to go back and look at the map." All this repetitive doubt was getting tiring. "We'll lose more time if we do that, and I don't know about all of you, but I'd rather get this thing over with and go back with something to show."

"There are much easier ways to do that." Blake retorted. "Surely, there are less dangerous relics to obtain."

If Jaune wasn't frustrated with Blake now, he seemed to be now. What would it take to convince her that they could do this? Arguing about this was a waste of time. He needed her on board with this plan.

He recalled their instructions in initiation, and then he got a new idea.

"Okay, Professor Ozpin said that we're being monitored, right?"

"Yes. What about it?" Pyrrha now asked.

"Think of it this way." Jaune looked around, as if searching for some sort of monitoring device. "This is a chance to prove our worth to him and to the staff."

"Are you for real?" Blake stepped in front of him and bonked her fist on his forehead. "Wake up, idiot. Being a huntsman isn't about an unstoppable hero. Clearly, we're not cut out for this."

"Clearly, we have to be since there's a piece here." Jaune disagreed with a shake of his head. "We're bound to be doing this kind of stuff for the rest of our lives. If we bow out now, we'll never make the cut as hunters. So we might as well take a stand now."

It began to dawn on Blake that convincing her suicidal partner to change the course was a lost cause.

"Now who's with me?" Jaune's head moved to each of the girls.

"I'm in." Yang ruffled his hair some more, earning her another seething look. "I mean, the more Grimm, the more fun."

"Surprise surprise, the trigger-happy nut agrees." Blake muttered darkly.

"I suppose I can see the opportunity here." Pyrrha had made up her mind, a determined expression on her face. "I'm in as well."

"Now the rational and sane one is gone too." Blake sighed. "It would seem I have no choice."

"Come on Blakey." Yang let go of Jaune. "Just go with flow, you'll have more fun. Don't sweat it."

"That's not my style." Blake pointed out. "It's never been my style to just agree because others are doing it."

"This may be a good time to start." Pyrrha suggested. "We're a team, so we've all got to be on the same page and commit to a plan."

"Even if it is made by a complete moron." The black-haired girl had to concede at this point. "Just great."

"You know I can hear you just fine, _partner_."

"That's because I want you to hear me."

"You… you know what? We'll talk about this later. For now, we're going to be trailblazers."

"You got that right." A low chuckled came from the blonde girl. "We gotta blaze our way out of a _Grimm_ situation."

…

"Did you seriously just say that?" Blake sounded extremely disappointed.

"What?" Yang regarded them all in genuine shock. "That's some of my best comedy."

"Ouch." Jaune intoned. "Just ouch."

"Come on, Pyrrha." Yang turned to her partner. "Back me up here."

"Well… " Even Pyrrha couldn't politely pretend. "I, uh…"

"Traitors! All of you!"

"We've got a lot to work on." Jaune wondered just how this team was going to function. "Getting back onto the matter at hand, does everyone understand the plan?"

"Ready and waiting." Pyrrha got into ready position.

"Locked and loaded!" Yang held both hands up.

"...lead the way." Blake held her sword tight.

"Pyrrha, you take left side. Yang, take right. Blake, you and me up front."

"You want to be up front?" Blake questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"It's not like we need to guard the rear. We'll be moving fast. Remember, fast and hard. Nothing more, nothing less."

Blake just decided to concede. "Fine, fine."

"Everyone clear on the plan?"

A collective nod.  
"Good. We go on my mark."

Everyone took their ready positions, looking more or less sure.

Well, almost everyone.

"One."

Their weapons were at the ready and their bodies were positioned to charge.

"Two."

They squashed any insecurities. There was no time for doubts when they were on a Grimm run.

"Three!"

The first ten seconds were the only ones not littered with Grimm, but the moment they swarmed around them, they didn't stop.

Blake swung Gambol and Shroud in a wide arc to cut down multiple contacts in their path. Jaune followed up by clearing those that weren't dead by means of simple yet deadly slashes. He impaled one through the neck, and accidently slit another's throat as he swung and chopped off a head.

Although he did kill some intentionally, most of his kills were unexpected. Still, as best as he could manage, Jaune worked to keep the Grimm busy, at least the ones that Blake didn't hit on the first try.

Yang was having little difficulty clearing away her side, keeping all the Grimm at a distance or at least at bay. She was definitely a close quarter combat specialist; if Ember Celica didn't get them first then her fists did. All the while, she let out some loud whoops in sync with her strikes.

"TAKE THAT, UGLY!" Yang cried out, smashing into another. "THAT'S RIGHT, YOU WANT SOME MORE?!"

Pyrrha took a different approach as she expertly took precise headshots, downing her chosen foes instantly and for those that got too close, she shield-tossed to force back the unruly creatures. Unlike Yang, she was quiet except for small occasional sounds of exertion.

They were all surprised that the plan seemed to be working as well as it was. Either the Grimm weren't as numerous as they had initially thought or they weren't as tough as predicted, but regardless, their pathway had been carved. Even more strange, the Grimm weren't as prominent once they actually began to climb the hill. Dozens slowly turned into a handful, and then only a couple, then none.

Once they stopped at the top of the hill, they all looked back to see one of the strangest sights that one could ever see: hordes of Grimm retreating from their sworn enemies.

"Is it just me or is this creepy?" Jaune asked with a puff of breath. "I mean, they're Grimm, right?"

"Something's not right." Blake reported, her weapon by her side. "Grimm never retreat, not that I've seen."

"Yeah, that's right you mutha's!" Yang cupped her hands to her mouth. "RUN!"  
"It does seem out of place." Pyrrha affirming the sentiment expressed by the others.

The once-menacing blackness surrounding them receded into the natural colors of the forest, followed by the natural sounds of the forest.

"You know what, it doesn't matter." Jaune claimed, looking behind them. "We just have to grab the relic and go."

"I'll get it!" Yang decided, dashing forward. "Be right back!"

"Or let Yang get it." Jaune conveyed with a wave of his arms.

Blake wasn't so quick to dismiss danger. If something was too good to be true, then reconsider it. What she found unsettling was that she wasn't finding anything to worry about. She didn't see any signs of Grimm. She didn't sense any Grimm, even with her natural Faunus abilities. There was nothing.

Pyrrha had placed her weapons on her back, but was far from at ease. Her eyes carefully scanned her surroundings. She did a full circle scan and moved to a second one.

Meanwhile, Yang, having completely abandoned any sense of caution, barreled towards the temple. It was more complete than the first one they had discovered, albeit smaller in size. At the very center of the hexagonal structure were two pillars, each with a relic in the shape of a chess piece.

One king and one queen. Both of them white.

"Cool!" Yang gleefully shouted. "Guess what guys?! We're rulers of the chess board!"

"Yeah, sure. Great!" Jaune shouted back to her, though he seemed unenthused by what she had to say.

"Why'd I have to get stuck with a bunch of party poopers?" Yang grumbled under her breath.

Shaking her head once, she looked to the two relics. Without another moment to lose, she plucked them both from their places.

Score two for the team.

She turned to leave the temple, only to feel quakes underneath her feet.

Very volatile quakes.

"What's going on?!" Pyrrha sounded from outside.

Yang looked back to the pillars where the relics were sitting.

Except that they weren't there.

"Uh… booby trap?!" Yang guessed, having no idea, but this looked familiar to her. "Like in those action movies?!"

Instinct taking over, she pocketed the pieces and dashed out of the collapsing structure. A few stones collapsed from above, causing her to back off and sidestep the obstacles. She looked back to see the floor that she once stood on had become unstable ground. This really was an action movie. Yang put her legs into overdrive as she cleared the disintegrating structure.

Once the brawler cleared the danger zone, she joined the team. They huddled together, looking all around them to see if there was anything that they could see triggering these quakes.

Unexpectedly, the pillars of the temple began to rise from the ground. At first, they fell just like any pillar that was being uprooted, but before they collapsed completely, they remained still, vertical to the ground; one swung around in a wide arc, slamming into the four unexpecting teenagers. All of them careened off the top of the hill and landed on its base, everyone sprawled out.

"Okay, that's a new one." Yang murmured, getting up first. "You don't see that in action movies."

"I thought action movies were all fake." Jaune groaned, digging the tip of Crocea Mors into the ground as he rose.

"Most of them." Blake replied to him, checking over herself. "But not all of them."

"There's a bit of truth in fiction." Pyrrha spoke next rubbed some dirt off. "Even in overly exaggerated films."

The temple suddenly came crashing down to the ground as two of the pillars rose from their somewhat prone position on the ground.

The four of them could only watch with varying degrees of surprise from what they now had to contend with.

* * *

 **This chapter went through a lot of work and I'm pleased with the results. There's quite a bit different from the original draft and the final product. The differences are in the smaller details.**

 **Feedback from the story so far as been positive more or less, though some people still take issue with characterizations. It's understandable, but it won't change. There's a reason I'm writing it like this. You'll see as the story progresses.**

 **Teams have been set, and I worked hard to ensure team dynamics are varied and interesting. There will be OOC moments because this does not follow canon in any way, so bear that in mind as future chapters come. I'm no fan of stories that retell the main storyline and change a few plot points, so I won't tell one myself.**

 **And to Jaune x Blake shippers, you'll get your fill of that with time. Their relationship is the main plot to the story, but these other subplots will be fun too.**

 **So what's the buzz? Awesome? Lame? Same old, same old? Whatevs? You've read this far, so why not just tell me what you're thinking. Writing some thoughts takes about a few minutes of your time, and probably not even that much time.**

 **A final note: for future RWBY stories, including crossovers, visit my profile page and cast your vote in the ongoing pole. People want the stories that I least expect. Keep in mind that these stories may not see the light of day for a considerable amount of time. Go figure.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed reading this installation of the story, and remember:**

 _ **"What we think, we become."**_

 **Buddha**

 **Let your imagination go wild!**


	4. Chapter 4: Chuunibyou

Beta-Readers: **Jauneforever** (Ideas), **G-Unot** (Grammar)

Chapter 4: Chuunibyou

 **Emerald Forest**

 **Beacon Initiation**

The sounds of gunfire echoed heavily throughout the forest. From far away, all that could be seen were trees falling to the ground for no apparent reason, smoke emanating from the path that was being cleared out.

Although Ozpin had his scroll in hand, it was redundant as he had a clear view of the raging battle in the dappled light of the forest, a wry expression crossing his face.

Watching newly-formed teams working together for the first time was certainly a satisfying way to spend the day. It was more than just entertainment for him; it was a gruelling test for them as well.

And right now, two interesting teams were being tested against enemies that would ordinarily give even more seasoned huntsmen and huntresses some trouble.

Jaune Arc. Blake Belladonna. Pyrrha Nikos. Yang Xiao Long.

They were contending with a Geist.

The one that he knew about.

The one that could crush first-years such as these with ease.

Ruby Rose. Nora Valkyrie. Weiss Schnee. Lie Ren

They were about to encounter their foe soon.

Yet again, another opponent of a calibre far above first-years.

Ozpin placidly took a sip from his cup.

Ah, they would be fine.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

Well, things could be worse.

Things could be better too.

Or things could be just as they were.

Four teenagers running down the pathway they'd just cleared just minutes ago with a large Grimm made of stone pursuing them?

If this was the sort of thing that was to be expected from the team often, then either they would become the best team at Beacon or they would be dead before the semester was out. Go big or go home.

Blake would prefer to make a big change quietly, but it seemed as though she wouldn't be getting her wish.

Jaune looked strangely calm for someone who claimed to have never fought Grimm before, unduly unruffled.

Pyrrha was harder to read. Perhaps she was disappointed, apathetic, or just concentrating hard on a strategy to deal with the problem at hand. Who knew?

Yang, positioned on the outer edges of the group, seemed quite upbeat, though she kept close to her fellow warriors.

"So did you have something even resembling a plan B!?" Blake snarled, looking at her dishevelled partner. "Because we could really use one!"

"Yeah, I got one," Jaune replied facetiously, evading a branch that tried to take his head. "Run and work on a plan C."

"Make it up as we go?" Yang pondered loudly, firing two rounds at the hulking Grimm behind her. "Nifty!"

"Perhaps it will get some interesting results?" Pyrrha speculated, expertly weaved around an obstacle. "It's certainly been intriguing thus far!"

"Am I the only one here who's not a thrill-seeking nut getting off on all this?!" Blake cried out, firing on the Grimm pursuing them with Gambol Shroud. "It's like babysitting kids high off a sugar rush!"

"Or maybe we're not the problem." Jaune complained as he awkwardly maneuvered around a large rock in his path. "Maybe you are."

"And this coming from you?!" Blake couldn't sound any more offended, incredulity dripping from her tone. "That's rich!"

Whilst the four of them had been successful for a time in evading their newfound enemy, their chatter had slowed their escape and they were all caught in another swipe from the monolithic Grimm that left them with their faces pressing the earth, in various states of disarray. Were it not for Aura they would be facing some serious bodily injury, but it was still enough to leave them gasping for air.

Jaune stabbed the tip of Crocea Mors into the dirt, the ancestral sword providing him with needed leverage to lift himself up, and got his first proper chance to observe his opponent.

He guessed it was Grimm, for it possessed some of the characteristics of Grimm: white plating, eerie orange-yellow eyes, scary glowing-red segmentation, and some black, though what he was looking at wasn't quite a normal Grimm. It was using pillars of the temple as arms and legs, as was its body.

It was assimilating inanimate objects, using them for its own body. That sounded like a magical ability of some kind, but that didn't sound like something he had heard of Grimm possessing before.

"Any idea what this thing is?" Jaune barked. "If it even is a Grimm?"

"It's a Geist." Pyrrha readied herself as she spoke. "It's an uncommon Grimm, very difficult to kill."

"Anything else?" Jaune pushed, an urgent edge entering his voice. "You know, something useful like how to fight it?"

"I've only heard of them." Pyrrha replied hesitantly. "I've never really done any extensive research on them or fought one."

"This is the kind of thing that I was talking about." Blake complained as she stared at the massive behemoth. "Odds that aren't in our favor."

"Odd, smodds, whatever." Yang dismissed, quickly reloading Ember Celica with shells and cocking the gauntlet. "We gotta take this thing down quick or it'll keep riding our tails."

"Then we push forward." Pyrrha translated her partner's words.

"How about a tactical retreat, I hear continuing to live with all your limbs intact is a good hobby?" Blake snarked, trying again to make her opinions heard.

"No, we need to probe." Jaune asserted. "Yang's right, if we don't kill it now, it's going to stick with us like a bad rash."

All four pairs of eyes focused on their much-larger opponent, that was set on crushing them into human crepes.

"So what's the plan, boss man?" Yang snickered. "Hey, that rhymed."

Everyone gave her a scathing look, to which the brawler simply raised a finely manicured eyebrow, smiling back and clearly not regretting anything.

"... we split up." Jaune finally stated. "Pyrrha, flank left."

"Got it." The spartan girl rushed to comply.

"Yang, flank right." The neophyte knight ordered.

"On it." Yang put some speed into her strides.

"And what about us?" Blake questioned. "What are we doing?"

"I'll be the decoy." Jaune told her. "You're going to be attacking from above."

"Are you…" Blake held her tongue to prevent her initial acidic response from tumbling out of her mouth. "... sure about this?"

"No, I'm not." Jaune opined, his posture stiff and stress giving his voice a rough quality. "But I have to make myself useful somehow."

He moved to play his part, but her hand firmly fell on shoulder, stopping him and he looked back at her.

"There are better ways to do that than what you're thinking." Blake insisted, a pleading look in her amber eyes. "We're partners. We're… supposed to keep each other alive."

If time weren't so precious, he might have gave her a questioning stare. Not minutes ago, she was insulting him without a care in the world. Now, apparently his well-being was her concern.

"Blake, stop trying to hold me back." Jaune begged. "You're here now, sure, but one day, you won't be, and what then?"

"Retreat, like you should." Blake replied curtly, "Sometimes, a fight's just not worth risking your life over."

"Then you can go ahead and retreat." Jaune said, having had enough. "As for me, I need to help Yang and Pyrrha."

There really wasn't stopping Jaune when he wanted to do something. Was he really so eager to prove himself worthy of his place here, or was it desperation that drove him?

 _Well he did cheat his way in._ Blake reminded herself. _That's gotta be part of why he's driving himself so hard to prove himself._

Lost in her thoughts, the Faunus girl's grip on her partner slackened, and he left her to join the fight with Yang and Pyrrha.

Blake bit her lower lip, tension seeping through her as she stood there watching. There they all were, following Jaune's lead without much question or hesitation.

There weren't many who could inspire that sort of leadership, and the blonde boy had seemingly attained Yang and Pyrrha's loyalty in such a short period of time. Such a thing shouldn't be possible. They barely knew each other and it wasn't as though he was some paragon of pure strength.

So what was it if it wasn't admiration or loyalty? Why did they follow him?

He had…

"Blake!" Yang's tense voice cut through the sounds of battle like a hot knife through butter. "A little help would be appreciated!"

"C'mon, focus." Blake recalled Jaune's plan. "As long as his plans work, I guess I can follow them for now."

Blake leapt into the canopy of trees to get a higher vantage point. This Grimm was clearly unusual. Unlike other Grimm, which possessed a clear anatomy and accompanying known weak points, this one's body didn't have anything quite so obvious.

The black-haired girl tossed the ribbon of her Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe and latched onto the Grimm's body, then tugging hard, used the recoil of the compact pistol to propel herself forward. She struck with both the cleaver and katana components of her weapon to almost no effect.

The much-larger opponent tried to swat at her, more annoyed than angered by her attack and presence. Leaving a shadow clone behind to weather the blow, Blake leapt away from the danger.

From the corner of her eyes, Blake witnessed Yang charging in, firing round after round, the distinctive red dust from her shell leaving trails through the air. The effort amounted to little with nary a scratch on the mammoth creature. As the colossus turned to the source to swat down the annoying fly that dared to touch it, lilac eyes widened as Yang nimbly dodged back to retreat.

Pyrrha stayed at a distance, all the while, testing different combinations of ranged attacks. Shield tossing Akouo, as well as unleashing a hail of bullets with the rifle mode of Miló. Unfortunately neither yielded much more than the efforts of her compatriots.

Jaune, having no ranged weapon, resorted to getting up close and personal, but just like everyone else, couldn't damage the body. Whatever stone the body was made of, neither munitions nor blade were penetrating it.

It was fortunate that the size that lent it strength also mean that dodging it was not too difficult, but even Jaune was aware that this was not exactly a huge accomplishment. Complacency and overconfidence would kill him, even one solid hit from this creature could take him out of the fight. He was still fighting a superior opponent.

Jaune then saw something that he knew he wasn't going to be able to dodge: a gargantuan pillar arm coming towards him at a speed that belied its size, ready to squash him. There was only thing he could do now.

He fell into a defensive crouch and held up his shield and the massive impact rang through his head and jarred his arm, causing furrows to be carved into the ground as his feet dug in, yet he pushed with all the strength he could muster, in a seemingly futile counterattack.

Yang took the opportunity to seemingly come out of nowhere and crashed into the stone arm of the malicious Grimm, throwing it off target. In the abrupt absence of a counteracting force, Jaune was momentarily left off-balance, causing him to collapse in a heap ungracefully.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha exclaimed, concern flashed in her emerald eyes "Are you alright?!"

Despite being sapped of quite a bit of his strength, he still felt himself able to push himself up with Crocea Mors, so he waved Pyrrha off.

"Don't worry about me!" Jaune yelled. "Keep probing!"

Pyrrha hesitated for only a moment but that was enough to make Jaune irritable. If he was going to be leading, he couldn't be second-guessed in the heat of battle, fighting a Grimm they weren't prepared for.

"Now, Pyrrha!" He roared.

Taking note of the determination in his eyes as well as his focus, the spartan girl returned her focus to the battlefield with less hesitation marring her actions.

Jaune wanted to help them, but it didn't seem as though their attacks weren't doing much at all.

 _Nothing we're doing is working_ thought Jaune in desperate frustration.

But if huntsmen and huntresses could defeat these things, surely they could as well. They just needed-

Jaune saw something flying his way at high velocity, a loose bit of stone from the Geist's arm. Panicked, he hid behind his shield, which did protect him from the stone itself, but the kinetic energy still launched him backwards and onto his back.

 _What was that?_ He mused to himself. _Now it can launch parts of itself?_

While Jaune reoriented himself, Yang was in the midst of testing the strength of the golem-like grim.

Using Ember Celica to accelerate her speed, she held her right fist at the ready, catching the Geist off guard in mid-motion as it tried to tackle Pyrrha and Blake. With a grin of satisfaction, she struck directly. The force of the blow was enough to send the entire thing to the ground with a loud bang reverberating through its solid frame.

"Hell, yeah!" Yang whooped as she landed on her feet. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

Her words were short-lived as it rose once again, sporting only minor cracks in its body, but otherwise looking unaffected.

"Heh, guess I spoke too soon." Yang meekly said to herself.

It reared up again for another swing of its pillar arm, but Pyrrha quickly pushed Yang out of the way just before it could cause her egregious amounts of pain, with both girls tumbling to the ground in an ungainly heap.

Neither had sufficient time to evade as the other limb crashed down on their frames. Pyrrha braced herself with Akouo, reinforcing it with her semblance and praying that the dipylon shield would hold, whilst Yang held both arms up, angling her sturdy gauntlets to allow for her best defensive position. Then the shadow overcame them.

Neither felt anything touch them.

Blake, currently up in the trees, was using her ribbon to hook onto the arm and using all of her strength she had to restrain the blow from reaching its mark. The high-tensile elastic of the ribbon was strained to its limit by the pressure placed upon it.

Jaune stepped in next, using his shield and his own strength combined with Blake's to push back the monster and slowly give more room to Yang and Pyrrha.

"Time to go!" Jaune hissed. "Right now!"

"Don't mind us!" Yang took the chance and dragged Pyrrha out of the danger zone. "C'mon champ!"

With them clear, Jaune used a burst of energy to give himself enough leverage to escape

"Guys, regroup!" Jaune called out to the girls.

Hearing his call, they all retreated into the dense forest,with Blake descending by swinging off the Grimm's arm. They were all somewhat dirtied from the dust they had kicked up in the fight.

"Nothing." Blake first said. "Blades don't work."

"Neither do rounds." Yang attested. "Just some burn marks to show, if that thing even has nerves to feel with."

"Akouo doesn't even phase it in the slightest." Pyrrha chimed in. "The stone is simply too strong to break with our weapons."

"Okay, so blades and bullets don't work." Jaune summarised succinctly.

"But maybe some more power would." Yang pointed out. "I did dent it."

"So we need more blunt force." Jaune finished. "But it's not like it's going to stay still for us."

"Unless we can keep it in place." Pyrrha suggested. "But how to do that?"

Jaune looked all around him. There were trees, and lots of them.

"Okay." He got the attention of the huntresses. "Now, I have a plan."

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

"Well, they've certainly gotten themselves into quite the conundrum." Peter Port's blustering voice echoing as he watched alongside Ozpin. "But that boy seems to have quite the spark within him."

"Quite so." Ozpin agreed with his fellow huntsman. "Despite having completely falsified his transcripts, Jaune Arc shows quite the remarkable talent."

"You will not have him leave, will you?" the burly professor questioned the older man. "I would certainly hope not."

"If Mr. Arc can pass Initiation, then he is most welcome to remain." Ozpin said with a finality. "The transcripts are merely meant as an indicator of merit and the ability to survive such a test. I would say thus far he's earned the right to prove himself at the least."

"Hmm." Port hummed in approval. "Have you sighted any of the others?"

"I have." Ozpin replied, scrolling through his list of active video feeds. "This one."

Peter's eyes focused on the screen. A girl with silver eyes leading three others into a Nevermore nest.

"Ah, young Ms. Rose. I hear she's quite the prodigy."

"Yes, just like her mother." Ozpin stated. "Which means she could very well be the key to a great deal of things."

"And you believe her ready?" Peter inquired. "She's still a child?"

"Yes, I know, Peter." Ozpin's slight sigh didn't go unnoticed. "But I think Miss Rose has already found her motivation."

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

"I'm not sure about this." Ren stated, the growing sense of danger he could feel reflected in his voice. "It's too quiet."

"I concur." Weiss huffed and puffed as she spoke, a tinge of red splashed on her pale face. "There's just a feeling in the air, as though we're not alone."

"Because we're not alone!" Nora got into Weiss's face as she blurted out. "We're here, the four of us on an adventure!"

"Yeah, that's always confused me." Ruby spoke next, leaning on Crescent Rose as she looked back at her new friends. "How can we be alone together? It always confuses me."

"That is not the point." the heiress huffed frustratedly. "The point is that there is more than just ourselves here."

"But that's just you, Weissy." Nora pointed out. "I don't feel anything."

"I am never wrong." Weiss argued back. "And my name is Weiss."

"I know that your name is Weiss!" Nora bounced around the heiress. "That's boring though, you need a nickname."

"It's not one that I care for." Weiss groaned and bowed her head into her hand. "Why did I want to find new friends?"

"Don't worry." Ren stepped up to his prim partner. "She's just like that. Please don't take her behavior as anything personal."

"I… will try." Weiss managed. "But it will certainly take some time to get used to."

Ren looked to Nora, who gave him a look that colored her… unimpressed.

"Alright," Ruby cut into the chatter. "The artifacts should be around here somewhere…"

All of them could see the actual top of this mountain. At least three times they had all been fooled into thinking that they had reached the peak, only to see that there was a few hundred more feet of ground to cover. Nobody complained, but it was apparent that one of their number wasn't equipped or used to hiking through such terrain, but said individual in question refused help at every turn, even when it was evident from the expressions that crossed her face occasionally that she could use some.

When Ruby was the first to reach the top, she breathed a sigh of relief. This was the very top, and boy did the view make up for some of their expended energy. She could see for quite the distance all around.

"Check OUT the view!" Ruby cried out in elation. "Awesome! I think I can see Beacon from here!"

"Really?!" Nora joined in, cupping her hands over her eyes like binoculars. "Oh, you're right!"

"It's alright," was all Weiss could say. "I suppose."

"And I think I see the extraction point." Ren reported. "Over there."

"You're… right." Weiss squinted a bit to see. "That has to be it there."

"What has to be it?" Ruby joined the two of them. "I don't see anything else."

"You don't see the forest that surrounds us?" Weiss's tone dripped with snark. "Amazing."

"Hey!" The red-cloaked girl squeaked as her voice pitched up with hurt. "What did I ever do to you?"

The white-clad girl's searing glare was all it took to remind the red reaper of what happened yesterday.

"Really?" Ruby threw her arms up as she ranted. "You're still hung up on that? How many times do I have to tell you? It was a mistake! I'm sorry!"

"Girls." Ren stepped in between them, tone flat. "This isn't the time. We came here for the relics. We can argue and resolve whatever happened later."

A moment went by as silver and opal eyes looked at him, then back to each other. Nobody said anything for another beat.

Weiss begrudgingly nodded her head while Ruby frowned in acceptance. The rapier-wielder was the first to offer a handshake for a truce, to which the scythe-wielder shook quickly.

It wouldn't last forever, but maybe it would last long enough for all of them to get out of the Emerald Forest alive.

Maybe was the key word.

"Good." Ren commented, then looked to his right. "And speaking of the relics…"

"OOOH!" Nora crooned, then took off. "Let's see what we've got!"

The remaining three teenagers joined their hyperactive peer. All of them took the time to observe the pieces that they had discovered: two white knight pieces, each on a separate pedestal, each in pristine condition.

"These don't look like they've been here long." Weiss observed, bending down slightly to get a closer look. "They're not the slightest bit dirty or dusty."

"Quite." Ren concurred with the heiress, the oddity spurring his apprehension again.

"Ren?" Nora questioned, her eyes begging him for an answer. "Something wrong?"

"Well." Ren began, his head moving all over the place. "I've just… I've got a bad feeling about this."

…

"Should we be concerned then?" Ruby asked next. "I mean, you sound like you know that something's up."

"It doesn't mean that I'm completely right." Ren tried to explain his gut instinct. "But my gut usually tells me things…"

"Regardless, we'd best not dawdle." Weiss echoing Ren's thoughts. "We should take the relics so we can leave now. There's no sense in staying longer than necessary."

Ruby cast a look between the two of them before shrugging her shoulders and grabbing both relics at the same time, one in each small hand.

She smiled for a moment, her silver eyes gleaming in happiness with the goal accomplished.

Then the pillars disappear into the ground.

"Where did they go!?" Nora gasped, getting down on the ground to feel for the lost pedestals. "It's like… they just disappeared."

A resounding screech then blared all around them, one that couldn't be mistaken as anything but the sound of Grimm.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls." Ren murmured quietly, staring off into the sky.

"Ren?" Weiss didn't understand his words. "What are you talking… about…"

The sight of something massive coming towards them told all of them that they were in some really deep trouble now.

In retrospect, it should have been obvious why this place looked strangely like a bird's nest, only much larger.

"It tolls to thee." Ren whispered, light fear evident.

All four combatants readied their weapons as the giant Nevermore flew towards them at dizzying speeds for its size.

Then they all saw giant obsidian feathers raining down, designed to tear them apart. Everyone dodged out of the way, feathers splitting the ground where they once stood.

A light cloud of dust had been kicked up in the ruckus, but the four of them were still within sight of each other.

"Too close!" Ruby squealed, trying to clear her vision. "Let's book it!"

"About time!" Weiss huffed, coughing. "I detest this place now!"

With the Nevermore pulling up and trying to circle around for another run at them, the four hunters in training moved to the edge again.

"I don't suppose that anyone's got a way to get down this thing quickly?" Ruby turned to her team. "Anyone got an idea?"

Nora grinned, but offered no solutions. Ren simply looked to Weiss, who gave him a look of confusion.

"What?" The white-haired girl was eager to know what Ren was thinking.

"How about an ice slide down the mountain?" Ren requested, gesturing downwards. "That way, we can get down fast and avoid being target practice for the Nevermore."

"I've never done anything quite that strenuous." Weiss protested. "I'm good, but the dust and Aura it will…"

That was when two more feathers soared by the four of them. Another three embedded the ground behind them.

"Then again, there's a first time for everything!" Weiss quickly changed her mind and created a narrow ice slide. "Okay, I've done the best that I can, but I need to warn-"

Without a thought or a care in the world, Nora took the first leap of faith, and she did it with absolute joy and excitement.

"Yay! Ice sliding!" Nora sang as she made her way down.

"Wait, Nora!" Weiss called out. "I didn't finish!"

"No time for that!" Ruby jumped next. "Last one down's a dying Grimm!"

"Now hold on!" Weiss tried to stop Ruby. "Doesn't anyone listen to me?!"

Neither girl were within earshot of the heiress. They were too far down and having too much fun.

Ren would've tried to assure Weiss that they would be fine, but an incoming feather cut that thought short.

With no time to consult Weiss, he grabbed hold of her by the waist and pressed her close to him and jumped, the deadly projectile missing them by inches. To her credit, Weiss only let out a small yelp but quickly adapted, adjusting her footing so that their weight distribution was evenly balanced. All the while, she used Myrtenaster to keep them upright. There were no means of keeping them on the ice, and any misstep could result in them being thrown of-course.

Up ahead of them, Nora and Ruby had reached the previously unforeseen end of the slide, which resulted in them being launched in the air, away from the mountain.

Nora didn't seem one bit phased by this change, and let her arms at her sides rise up so that she formed a t-shape. She did brandish her weapon, but didn't use it, even as she descended into the treeline and out of sight.

Ruby used Crescent Rose to propel herself forward, then she used her semblance of speed to take control of her movements and sped down to the forest floor, a stream of rose petals left in her wake.

It was then that Ren looked behind him to see the Nevermore was relentless in its chase and had unleashed another flurry of feathers. Thinking quickly, he activated his aura. One projectile that would've struck instead shattered into pieces as he used his aura to destroy the deadly black projectile.

"Everything okay?!" Weiss demanded.

"Just fine!" Ren replied.

The two of them reached the end of the line as they too soared, but Ren didn't let go of Weiss, nor did Weiss release her tense hold on Ren.

The Nevermore was closing in on them.

"Weiss, behind us!" Ren yelled.

Weiss projected a shielding glyph, which the avian Grimm slammed into at near-full speed. The impact was enough to cause it to spiral out of control and lose altitude.

"Nice trick back there." Ren praised.

"I aim to please!" Weiss proudly stated.

With the ground fast-approaching, Ren knew they had to make another landing plan.

"You mind making a soft landing for us?"

"Coming up!"

Weiss created another glyph underneath their feet, which slowed their plunge until they were only a meter from the ground, to which they both felt their feet hit the ground.

"Thank you." Ren carefully let go of Weiss. "Sorry for… the unexpected move."

"It's okay." Weiss faced him. "In a life-or-death situation, we don't have time to worry about our personal comfort zones."

"True enough." Ren agreed. "Now to find-"

"Ren!" Someone latched onto his back. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am." Ren murmured. "And so is Weiss."

"Oh, hey Weiss!" Nora waved. "That slide was AWESOME!"

"Thank you… I think?" Weiss wasn't sure what the appropriate words were in this situation.

"Nora!" Ruby emerged from the thick of the forest, huffing and puffing as she sped towards them. "Please… wait… for… me…"

"Whoops!" Nora leaped to her partner. "Sorry, boss lady!"

"The relics." Weiss put her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "Do you have them?"

"These?" Ruby smirked while holding the still-clean relics. "Was there any doubt?"

"Yes." Weiss answered simply.

"No." Ren and Nora were next.

"Ha!" Ruby pumped her fist. "Two against one! Take that, ice queen!"

"It's heiress." Weiss corrected. "But I don't think you'll remember that next time, will you?"

"Probably not." Ruby responded with a shrug. "But hey, we got the relics. Now we get to the extraction point."

"Onward then." Ren summed up. "Next step: Beacon Academy!"

"We'll be the best team evah!" Nora declared.

"I wonder what team my sister will be put on." Ruby pondered out loud. "Hope she gets along fine without them."

With final checks in order, all of them began to run for their final destination. One step closer to becoming officially licensed slayers of the Creatures of Grimm.

It was a shame that they didn't check to make sure that one of those Creatures of Grimm was dead for sure.

A pair of wings flapped aggressively to gain height.

A damaged Grimm was a dangerous foe.

A black shadow arose from the forest.

It would not make the same mistake again.

It took off in the direction of its sworn enemies, ready to start round two.

It would make the enemy pay for leaving it alive.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

Teachers came and went as the initiation drew on. It was bound to end soon, and this was the most important part to watch. Grimm were going to gather at the final rallying point, and this was the make or break spot.

"First-years always make that mistake." Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck spoke his mind. "I've seen it done hundreds of times."

Who would succeed?

"They're inexperienced." Ozpin reasoned. "It's expected of them to make mistakes, otherwise they never learn."

"True enough." The energetic professor couldn't disagree on that point. "Let's just hope that this class learns better than the previous ones."

"I think they will at least do something different than those of previous years." Ozpin voiced. "Or at the very least do a variation on what's been done."

"Indeed. Indeed." The green-haired man nodded rapidly. "You seem quite interested in two teams."

"I am." Ozpin didn't hide this fact. "They both show promising leaders and diverse teammates."

"Which will enable them all to learn and grow immensely." Oobleck deduced his superior's thoughts. "New things challenge us to think creatively."

"Mmm." Ozpin focused on his scroll.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

 **Some time later…**

Nobody knew when or how.

Ruby and Jaune had run into each other, causing them to collapse.

"Jaune!" Ruby said.

"Ruby!" Jaune said.

"Family reunion time!" Yang grabbed Ruby and hugged her. "How ya doin' sis?"

"Pretty good, Yang." Ruby wheezed, "But I'll be doing much better if I can breathe."

"Sorry." Yang released her adorable little sister. "Can't help it. Glad you guys could join in! These guys wouldn't know a good joke if it hit them in the face!"

"Your 'jokes' are reliant upon puns." Blake deadpanned. "Really bad puns."

"See?" Yang exclaimed. "This is what I'm talking about! Tell them, Pyrrha!"

"Eh…" Pyrrha couldn't bring herself to make up an excuse. "It's a work in progress."

"Optimism." Yang gave a thumbs up. "I dig it."

"Work in progress is right." Jaune got up and dusted himself off. "As in, we're rebuilding from the ground up."

"Well, aren't you all chummy." Weiss observed. "It's like you're already a team."

"We keep each other alive." Blake patted Jaune on the back. "Even those of us who aren't as… cautious."

"Well, she stopped insulting me." Jaune laughed lightly. "That's a start."

"Don't push it." Blake warned him. "I can always revert back."

"So what relics did you guys get?" Ren asked.

"Check it out." Yang produced the royal pieces. "King and queen of the board, baby."

"Ah, no fair." Ruby pouted. "We got knights."

"Hey, knights are cool." Jaune felt just a bit outraged.

"Figures you would think that." Blake murmured. "Being that you are one."

"So what have you guys fought?" Nora wanted to hear a cool story. "We fought a Nevermore. Took it out of the sky. BAM!"

"We fought a Geist." Jaune admitted. "Threw it down a convenient cliff."

"Thing went BANG!" Yang imitated the impact with her hands. "Like a firework at point-blank range."

"That sounds… a lot more simply than what we did." Weiss grumbled, her eyes casting a look at Ruby. "A lot more simple."

"Hey, it wasn't my idea to do what we did." Ruby threw a scolding look at Weiss. "Besides, we're alive, right?"

"By some stroke of luck." Weiss relented, clearly not happy.

As the eight of them began to immerse themselves into the conversation, the sounds of the Grimm could be heard all around them.

Beowolves. Ursai. Boarbatusks.

"Lots of Grimm." Ren pointed out.

All of them clustered together into a tight circle, their weapons ready to kill.

"Anyone have a plan?" Ruby looked at their odds; they didn't look good. "Cause we could use one."

"Don't let them into our circle." Jaune finalized. "You get hurt, you hurt them back. You get killed… walk it off."

"I don't know where he gets this courage." Blake announced to them all. "But I still don't agree with it."

The Grimm all charged.

The hunters braced themselves.

No mercy. No Quarter.

* * *

 **I had a hell of a time writing this one. Over the past year, my way with dialogue has changed and improved vastly. It's probably because after spending so much time with the characters of RWBY, I've become more knowledgeable about their characters from my perspective and from the perspective of the canon story.**

 **Volume 4 opened many doors when it came to exploring character mentalities, and as of late, I've been using them to differing effects. Hopefully, everyone here will find something they like too.**

 **What did you guys think? Go team? No-go? I'm still rendering a judgement? Absolutely not? Come on, you guys can tell me. Any sort of feedback is appreciated given the rather OOC moments.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this installation, and remember:**

 _ **"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."**_

 **Confucious**

 **Later days!**


	5. Chapter 5: Battle Cry

Beta-Readers **: Jauneforever** (Ideas) **, G-Unot** (Grammar & Additional Ideas)

Chapter 5: Battle Cry

 **Emerald Forest**

 **Beacon Initiation**

A Beowolf restlessly dug at the ground, hoping to find something to occupy its interest. Given that the forests didn't host much sport to kill, it had to find some way to entertain itself.

Suddenly, its head rose and crimson eyes looked around in interest, sniffing the air, and noticing in its peripheral vision, fellow Grimm running for some reason.

They were here. The enemy. The light, it was blinding. It was the scent of something living, something that did not belong.

Humans. Faunus.

The quadruped black beast let out a bestial roar and followed its brethren. The source of the souls, it was close.

Then a bullet entered through its skull and ended its life, and it disappeared in wisps of obsidian smoke.

Eight pairs of legs sprinted past the rapidly evaporating Grimm.

"Nothing like the smell of dead Grimm in the morning!" Yang whooped, reloading Ember Celica. "It's like fish in a barrel!"  
"Would you be silent for one minute!?" Weiss complained, whilst pivoting to face the trio of Beowolves attempting to flank her, freezing them in place with a quick snowflake glyph. "This is serious business!"

"Speak for yourself, princess!" Ruby laughed, swinging Crescent Rose in a wide arc to block an Ursa. "This is the life!"

"Look at me!" Nora sang as she smashed the body of one, then fired a grenade, launching herself high into the air. "I believe I can FLY!"

"Nora!" Ren growled, spinning around in a circle, firing Stormflower, creating a whirlwind of bullets. "Not the time!"

"More coming in from our right side!" Pyrrha reported, throwing her shield and firing at it, allowing the bullet to reflect and take four down with it. "Suggestions?"

"Push to the cliffs!" Jaune yelled, running one through with his sword, then shield-bashing another. "The longer we're here, the harder this will be!"

"For once, something other than a suicide plan!" Blake exclaimed whilst slicing an Ursa Major's head off in two precise diagonal strikes. "On your lead!"

Seconds, minutes, hours, they'd all been fighting for a time that felt almost eternal in nature. The flow of battle just coursed through them all. Every strike, every blow, every bullet, every kill, it just kept on going.

A brief pause in the flow of Grimm gave them the opening to retreat back to the rendezvous point that Ozpin had informed them about. The forest seemed to go on longer than they had all anticipated; now for the first time, there was a treeline and they took the opportunity to see if this was their intended destination.

Once finding their destination, it was a question of how long the ships would take to arrive at their position. There didn't appear to be any way to signal for pick up, but then again, even if there was a way, it was doubtful any ship would be able to land with the extraction point rife with Grimm.

Clearing the LZ would have to be a priority if they wanted to end this.

They all stopped when they heard a screech pierce through the skies. Four of them groaned while the other four just looked around.

"Great!" Ruby yelped, sarcasm and frustration lacing her voice. "Here we go again!"

A black shadow flew over them and perched itself atop one of the pillars of the partially-collapsed temple that lay in front of them.

"Big Grimm in front, and we've got that Grimm horde at our back. Now what, fearless leader?" Yang questioned, curious to get her fellow blonde's thoughts on the situation.

"I thought earlier, you didn't like me being leader?" Jaune queried apprehensively. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I misjudged you for one thing." Yang said. "You kinda suck at combat, but you're giving us some real fights. Plus, you're kinda crazy with you plans and all. I can admire that."

"Well, at least I don't suck at something." Jaune glanced at the redhead next. "What do you think, Pyrrha?"

"Your plans are unconventional and seemingly impossible, but you make them work." Pyrrha couldn't seem to find any faults in his approach. "I'll follow you."

"Blake?" Jaune sought an answer from his taciturn partner.

"Don't look at me." Blake had nothing to add. "They're your plans, not mine."

The Grimm were closing in fast.

"Jaune, can we talk about this another time?" Ruby demanded while looking through her weapon's scope. "We'll be surrounded soon."

"Right. I take it you guys fought this thing?" Jaune turned to the other four. "How did that go?"

"We fought it and didn't put it down like we should have." Weiss gritted her teeth, her light blue eyes dark with anger and frustration. "And now it comes back to torment us."

"No doubt it will give us few openings, if any." Ren chimed in. "We can't afford to be careless now."

There was also the horde of Grimm coming from behind that had the eight of them looking back and holding their weapons tighter. The soaring Nevermore ominously circled them, not attacking, but still eyeing up its next potential meal.

"Ruby, take your team and deal with that thing." Jaune ordered. "We're staying on the ground to hold off the horde."

"You sure?" Ruby gave him a look. "I mean, that's a lot of them back there."

"We don't have much choice" Jaune adopted a very serious look. "And I'm not about to let it end here."

"So what exactly is the plan?" Blake swung her ribbon, checking the tensile strength before they dove in. "We're not exactly what you'd call an army."

"We've got everything we need right here." Jaune pointed his sword and shield all around them. "The forest can give us the edge we need."

"The forest can only allow so many out at once." Pyrrha guessed his plan. "We use the forest to thin the ranks?"

"Exactly." Jaune affirmed.

"Well look at you, mister natural leader" Yang chuckled, rubbing his head playfully. "Making plans like he was born doing it!"

Ruby just looked at her sister. "Well, if Yang likes you that much, then I guess I don't have much to worry about!"

Blake sighed despondently. "That's not good logic at all; if anything, you should be worried if she likes him."

"If you didn't realize, 'he' is also right here." Jaune said, releasing himself from Yang's hold. "Just keep that thing off of us while we deal with this. You can do that, right?"

"You can count on us!" Ruby nodded confidently, and then spoke to her team. "Alright guys, time to go to work!"

"You heard her!" Jaune mirrored her action. "Spread out. We're going to bring the pain. Hard."

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

"Sir, are you certain that they can handle this?" Professor Peach couldn't help but voice her fears. "This is a bit too much."

"They will be fine." Ozpin succinctly conveyed his opinion on the matter. "They have shown the ability to rise the the challenge and succeed."

She wasn't wholly convinced but she wasn't the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and it was for good reason. She could admit that she hadn't the power or the intelligence to match him, though that wasn't to say that she was incompetent, far from it.

"Have there been any fatalities yet?" She braced herself for the possibility.

"Not this year." Ozpin remained neutral. "I am satisfied with this outcome so far."

It was no secret that Ozpin cared about people, even though his seemingly laconic attitude was what most people witnessed when they observed or interacted with him. That was him keeping a tight reign on his emotions, of which there were many that he was capable of expressing yet simply chose not to. He would always be one who would never allow his emotions to cloud his judgement. He did this so that others wouldn't have to. A sacrifice for others, so to speak. Plus, the Grimm weren't as effective against a man who constrained his emotions. He was most certainly proficient at killing Grimm.

"Tell me professor." Ozpin questioned, eyes affixed to his scroll. "What do you think of this year's class?"

"They're some of the most promising students we've had in all of our years of teaching students." She replied, having witnessed some of them at work, deciding it was inspiring to say the least. "Who knows where they will go with enough time and training."

"Indeed." Ozpin replied with a light tone. "I do hope that they can make it through this rather difficult challenge."

"One that you set up, no doubt." Professor Peach said with a sigh. "How can you always be sure that the right students will choose the right relic?"

"I don't." Ozpin stated, not wanting to waste effort in elaborating. "And moreover, there is no such thing as the correct or incorrect relic. Anyone in theory could retrieve these relics."

"So you keep saying." She looked out into the forest. "Yet many have died in years past."

"Those deaths could be attributed to a number of reasons." Ozpin let only a slight regretfulness into his words. "And I did not relish sending them to premature deaths."

"Yet that's exactly what we condemn them to do. Sir, they don't know what being a huntsman or a huntress entails, not really."

"They will soon. Their time here will tell whether they were made for this life or not."

She had nothing to say.

"I should go join the others." The huntress turned and walked away. "I just hope they will be ready."

Ozpin simply continued to watch the two teams as they battled for their position at Beacon. These eight were the most interesting out of all of the potentials this year, and in his experience, the most interesting ones were the ones that lasted the longest.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

Jaune brought up his shield to block an Ursa, as the loud sound of claws against metal ended, he eschewed this protection in favour of swiping at its paw with his sword, lopping it off clean. Before the Grimm could roar or retaliate, Blake launched her blade with her ribbon and fatally slashed its neck.

Blake then stood in front of Jaune as she fended off a Beowolf, trying to ensure that the blonde boy didn't somehow get himself killed after actually having made it this far. Not wanting to be the weak link, the blonde knight rose to somehow counter and kill a Boarbatusk trying to ram him into the ground with only his shield preventing its tusks from disembowelling him, thrusting his blade right into the center of its skull. The black-clad girl offered a hand, and he took it gratefully, brushing off the dust from the melee encounter.

Akouo followed a zigzagging path under Pyrrha's guidance across a large radius, disorientating Grimm as the round metal shield bounced off their heads . Yang then swiftly followed up, pounding them into the ground one by one, with punches flowing together in deadly, graceful symmetry. Whatever ones weren't killed instantly by Yang were swiftly put down by Pyrrha's efficiently precise shots from Miló.

The efforts of the four teenagers to suppress the Grimm horde seemed to have been met with resounding success. Even if their team coordination and synergy in combat was unconventional, there was no denying that it was working well.

While they all pushed the Grimm back into the forest, Jaune tried observing their surroundings to see how he could use the forest to cut off their advance. Pushing them back would only work for a limited time as their resources and the energy were finite.

Jaune heard something crashing through trees. He recalled hearing this sound all too well growing up in Mistral, especially in his region where forests were abundant. He highly doubted that it was just trees falling due to old age and death. Furthermore, the frequency of the crashing sounds only made him more jumpy.

 _This is familiar..._

"Wait, why does this sound…" Jaune almost asked a question, but found his answer as he recalled the earlier battle. "Oh no."

"Jaune?" Blake turned to notice his distressed face. "What?"

"Geist." He said. "Again."

"What?" Blake tensed as she searched for it. "Where?"

"There." Jaune pointed his sword. "Where the sound is coming from?"

"You guys hear that?!" Yang yelled as she impaled a hapless Ursa with its own ivory spike."Sounds like the forest coming down."

"I hear it as well." Pyrrha concurred. "It does sounds like something considerably large."

The Grimm once again seemed to making themselves scarce for no apparent reason at all. They still had the numbers to put up a solid fight, yet here they were, once again leaving the fray.

This felt disturbingly familiar. Really familiar.

As if on cue, something came hurtling in their direction. They couldn't see the dark mass clearly until it was an arm's length away, a massive tree flying at them like a speeding bullet from a gun. Yang and Pyrrha dodged with almost preternatural reflexes, only barely escaping impact with the arboreal missile. Jaune began to move all too late and braced for impact but fortunately for the blonde, Blake anticipated his ineptitude and pushed him as well as herself down onto the ground and they felt the speeding projectile miss them by mere inches above them, a loud bang ensuing as it smashed into the cliff in the distance.

For the third time in this initiation, both of them were caught in a awkwardly intimate-looking position, Jaune blinking in pure shock.

"Okay, this is seriously getting old." Jaune lifted his head. "Too many close calls."

"Considering what we've done so far, I'm surprised worse things haven't happened to us." Blake rose to one knee, one hand on Jaune's back. "You okay?"

"Just peachy." Jaune replied, lifting himself up. "Just peachy."

"You guys okay?" Yang rushed over to check over them. "Nobody died, right?"

"No, Yang, we died and our clones took our place." Blake said, sarcasm and anger seeping into her tone. "Yes, of course we're alive!"

"Sheesh, grouchy much?" Yang's face only hardened slightly. "Just wanted to make sure you guys were alright, which you obviously are."

"Amazing logical deduction." Blake uttered flatly. "Truly."

Yang stuck out her tongue.

"Can we indulge in the banter a little later?" Pyrrha rejoined her teammates. "Once our fight is over."

As they all had realized, the interloper was a Geist, and most likely the one they thought they had killed earlier. This time, though, it appeared as though it fashioned limbs for itself out of trees and rocks and a torso out of a large boulder. Now it was content to grab trees and toss them around like a sword, smashing down the surrounding trees in the process.

"It must be the thing inside the body." Blake could only think of one thing that made sense. "The Grimm is assimilating inanimate objects."

Everyone took a moment to process that.

"Then we need to take brute force to the Nth degree." Jaune began to formulate a new plan. "We need to hit it so hard that we destroy its ability to fight as well as its body."

"Did I hear brute force?" Yang's palpable excitement was both encouraging yet frightening in its intensity. "Lucky for you guys, the professor is in the house."

"Sure, but we'll need to lend you our strength as well to make this work." The knight responded, remembering how Yang's strength alone wasn't enough. "We need to give you speed too."

"I can help with that." Pyrrha joined in, and all heads turned her way. "As you may have gathered by now, my semblance is polarity. I could propel her forward since her gauntlets are metal."

The Geist all the while continued closing the distance.

"Jaune and I will buy you guys time to set up." Blake began to get the idea of the plan. "Just let us know when you're ready."

"You heard her, P-money. Let's move!" Yang took the lead with Pyrrha following close behind, though looking a bit taken aback.

"Thanks for that." Jaune felt grateful to Blake for being a team player. "I guess you're coming around?"

"I still reserve judgement, but… we're alive, I suppose." Blake wouldn't deny what Jaune was doing. "I'm just keeping you alive. You and I have promises to keep after all."

An ominous crack resounded as a massive tree came plunging down towards the pair as they dived in opposite directions. Everyone scattered as the object came crashing down and scattering any loose objects on the ground.

"Blake, go high." Jaune ordered. "Try to immobilize it!"

Blake spared only a look before moving into action. Using the trees, she quickly leaped to a high branch and then jumped onto the Geist's arms, walking along whilst firing her gun at it, the distraction masking her true purpose. The Grimm swayed, trying to shake her off like an annoying insect. She leapt to the other arm, instinctively positioning her body so that she landed without stumbling. In her position, any misstep could have grave consequences.

Below, Jaune was using his sword and shield as another source of annoyance for the monster. If this thing actually felt his strikes along with Blake, it might become too distracted to really properly counterattack. That was his hope.

"Hey, over here!" Jaune waved his arms frantically to get the monster's attention. "Come and get me!"

The monster tried to attack him, but was caught as Blake used her ribbon and her blade to latch onto its arm and the yanked hard, causing it to be pulled back. It swayed back and forth, trying to regain its balance.

Seeing that the black-haired warrior had effectively anchored the Grimm in place, the blonde knight dashed under its feet. It was an idea that he wasn't even sure that was going to work, but nevertheless, he smashed his shield against its right leg with all of his strength. He was surprised to see that it was enough to bring it to one knee. He dove to get out of the way as its weight sent slight shockwaves through the ground.

Seeing that the Geist was at their mercy, Yang and Pyrrha sprung into action.

Yang cocked Ember Celica, then aimed and fired behind her to propel her at blazing-fast speeds. Pyrrha stood to the side of her path, shield on her back and using her free hand, directed her power to latch onto the metal in Yang's gauntlets, then sending her semblance into overdrive, and for a split second, Yang felt insanely fast; this had to be how Ruby felt. It lasted only seconds as the brawler careened to the Geist, and using the last second of the flight to thrust her fists forward for maximum stopping power.

Then came a satisfying crack as the Geist fell apart, unable to withstand the force of the attack. The tree limbs scattered across the forest floor and the torso had been reduced to rubble. Even the actual Grimm had been forced out of its external shell.

Although none of them had seen a Grimm like this before, almost seemingly incorporeal, they knew what to do. As it began turning tail to escape, Pyrrha exercised swift technical precision, shooting it in its face and putting it down for good. The silence that followed felt so strange.

Yang broke it. "We're awesome!"

"As lame as you are, I can't deny it." Blake smiled wryly, having to admit that they'd done good. "Very awesome."

"I can't believe that worked." Jaune leaned on his sword catching his breath. "I had my doubts."

"You did well, Jaune." Pyrrha patted him on the back. "We should see how our fellow comrades are faring."

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

"Come back, Grimm!" Nora fired her grenade launcher. "We had so many things to do together!"

"Nora, please let's not!" Ren fired Stormflower. "We've got a job to do!"

For the past few minutes or so, the four of them had been darting throughout the ground and the collapsing temple. The Nevermore was moving constantly, never remaining in place long enough for any of them to attack.

In spite of this chaotic struggle, somehow Ruby had managed to concoct a plan to destroy the Nevermore. She had to explain it in incremental pieces as the four of them had to keep moving lest they found themselves pinned down by razor sharp feathers. The plan hinged on good timing and a healthy dash of luck being on their side. Whilst it wasn't an assurance of victory, it was still something to work with. Everyone had a part to play, and Ruby made sure she understood what everyone could do in terms of combat skills, aura, and semblances.

"Just for the record," Weiss complained using Myrtenaster to aim another ice blast using her glyph and the blue dust in tandem, "This is a terrible idea."

"I'll remember that." Ruby noted the opinion, and did nothing more. "But we're still going through with it."

"Ren, surely you have to agree with me." Weiss tried to appeal to her partner.

"In a way, I do, but I don't have a better idea." Ren answered honestly. "So unless that happens, I think we should stick with Ruby's plan."

An agreement, no matter how reluctant, was an agreement, and just in time. The Nevermore's attacks were becoming more various and more aggressive. The avian Grimm also fought with guerrilla-like tactics: fast, agile, and forceful, with no time for the four young warriors to retaliate.

The Nevermore was making another pass. At the altitude it was flying, one of them would never be able to get the proper liftoff.

Ruby held Cresent Rose. "Weiss, you know what to do."

Weiss regarded her leader, a skeptical look crossing her face. "Are you really sure about this?"

"Positive." Ruby flashed a confident grin. "I'll just need one of Nora's grenades along the way."

"I think I get it." Nora tipped her head. "But you're gonna owe me. Explosives cost money, you know."

"I'll pay you back." Ruby waved her off. "So can I have a grenade, please?"

Nora ejected one of the grenades from her weapon, inspected it for a few seconds, then tossed it to Ruby, who caught it with one hand. The contained explosive was lighter than the red reaper expected, but a grenade was a grenade, a deadly weapon.

"Alright." Ruby slotted the grenade into one of her pockets. "Let's get this party started!"

The Nevermore was coming around for another pass. The four combatants carefully tracked it, seeing if its trajectory would put it in a position where the plan could be executed. For such a large creature, it didn't seem possible for it to fly at such speeds.

"Weiss, get ready!" Ruby called out.

Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground, raising pillars of earth from the ground. Ruby leaped into action, hopping from each platform, raising herself higher, and not far behind her Nora and Ren followed her.

"Incoming!" Ren bent in an awkward position to evade a feather. "Feather!"

Nora smashed a feather that almost impaled her and deftly hopped on top of another, giving her more altitude before she bounded to the next pillar ahead of Ren and Ruby. She was completely unphased, her joyous laughter tinged with a unhealthy dash of lunacy.

The three had reached to the top of what remained of the ancient-looking temple. This was as high as they were going to get. Weiss despite her best effort, couldn't get them any more elevation and that was fine. They were high enough.

The Nevermore passed over them once again. The three hunters in training watched it soar higher into the sky, reach its peak and arcing around to begin its next strafing dive.

"Ren, now!" Ruby shouted.

Ren channelled his semblance, placing a hand into the ground, masking the negative emotions of himself and the two girls and the Nevermore craned its head left and right, trying in vain to find them. It was this critical move that made the bird Grimm lose its caution and fly lower, trying to spot its targets and failing.

Nora took aim and fired a cluster of grenades. The barrage of explosives struck the underside of the black monster, engulfing it in pink smoke and it lost altitude, nosediving like a plane about to crash. They weren't going to chance it living; one impact into the ground was no guarantee of putting down something in the weight class of a Nevermore.

Ruby took a running start before jumping, blurring as she activated her semblance and released rapid shots behind herself to launch herself towards the nevermore, scythe first. Her enormous momentum sent her careening into the Nevermore, a red comet smashing into avian behemoth as she made it collide into the cliff overlooking the temple. The thunderous sound briefly deafened everyone in the vicinity for a few seconds as the aged Grimm hit the unyielding the cliff face.

The red-clad warrior swiftly took out the grenade she had borrowed from the bubbly bomber and didn't have to wait long for the right moment. Almost casually, she banged one end into the cliff and then tossed the pink canister in the Grimm's beak as it opened wide issuing a sharp screech. She then retreated by pushing off the cliff with her boots, launching herself away with the aid of Crescent Rose once again providing her with momentum. Her head turned in time to see a satisfying sight: the Nevermore's head shattered into many pieces with arcs of pink electricity dancing between them, and a headless body beginning to fall into the pit below. She landed on her feet back with her three teammates. They quickly rushed to see if she had any injuries.

"I'm fine!" Ruby was abuzz with joy. "Better than fine! We killed a Nevermore!"

"Hell yeah!" Nora boomed with just as much enthusiasm. "We are awesome!"

"That was impressive to be sure." Ren agreed, albeit more placidly. "We ought to score high on our evaluations."

"I say we could have done this more efficiently." Weiss said out loud. "I counted at least five different ways to end the battle more swiftly."

"Wait, when did you get up here Weiss?" Ruby asked as if she wasn't expecting the heiress to be with them.

"I'm a huntress, Ruby." Weiss waved her arms in frustration. "I need to be up here to… support the team if they need it."

Three pair of eyes carefully eyed one pair.

"What?" Weiss regarded the others as they stared at her. "What did I say? What did I do?"

"Nothing." Ren joined her and patted her on the back. "We're all so very appreciative of your support, Weiss."

"Well, I guess nobody wins on their own." Weiss blushed from the unexpected physical contact.

Ruby could only shrug her shoulders. It would seem that whenever her partner came into the picture, her arrogant mood was reigned in. Maybe the snow princess wouldn't be as difficult to deal with as she'd initially thought.

"Team bonding time!" Nora hugged both Ren and Weiss into her arms. "We're all gonna be BFF's Forever!"

"Nora, BFF means 'best friends forever.'" Ren felt compelled to point this out. "So the last forever is redundant."

"Shut up, Ren!" Nora squeezed harder into her hugs. "Nobody likes a grammar Grimm!"

"But grammar is important." Weiss wheezed with her opinion. "Without proper… grammar… people think… poorly-"

"Shut it, Weissy!" Nora put even more pressure on her hugs. "Don't ruin the team bonding moment."

"Don't leave me out!" Ruby leaped into the fray. "Four cheers for a successful initiation!"

"Hip hip hooray!" Only two cheers were heard.

"Hip hip hooray!"

"Hip hip hooray!"

"Hip hip hooray!"

Once they all parted from the embrace, both Weiss and Ren collapsed to the ground from air deprivation.

"Nora." Ren sighed, frustrated yet accustomed to her quirks. "Please, don't ever do that again."

"Yes, please." Weiss mirrored his sentiment. "Never again."

"Oh, grow a pair." Nora shot back at them. "Not you, Weiss. That would be weird. You're a girl, and girls don't-"

"I get it!" Weiss cut Nora off without hesitation. "It's fine. Just stop. Please."

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

"Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee." Ozpin watched as the students approached him. "Nora Valkyrie. Lie Ren."

The four announced students stepped forward standing tall, their faces alight with excitement as well as pride at their accomplishment.

"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces." The silver-haired huntsman stated for the benefit of the audience. "You will be known as Team Roadrunner (RWNR), and you will be led by Ruby Rose."

The little red girl looked overwhelmed by this announcement, but before she could do anything else, she was surrounded by Ren and Nora.

"Congrats, Ruby!" Nora flashed her a bright smile.

"You did well." Ren put a hand on her shoulder. "You deserve this."

"Thanks, guys." Ruby still felt nervous. "I'll do my best."

Weiss was up in arms and looked ready to fight this decision, and only Ren's scathing look, the first she had seen from the introverted boy, stopped her. It wasn't enough to erase her indignation, but it was enough to calm her down. It wouldn't do to cause a scene now.

After a short congratulations from the headmaster, the four of them left the stage. The final four were waiting for their names to be called, and each of them was brimming with anticipation.

"Jaune Arc. Blake Belladonna." Here it comes. "Pyrrha Nikos. Yang Xiao Long."

The four of them removed themselves from the crowd and proceeded on-stage. Jitters from nervousness and excitement were present, with each of them trying to hide it with varying success.

"The four of you retrieved the white king and queen pieces." Ozpin glanced to the large screen. "You will be recognized as Team Jasper-Berry (JPBY)."

"I was expecting something else." Blake said loud enough for her teammates to hear. "Something more… meaningful."

"Shut up and let the man talk." Yang butted in. "You're ruining our moment."

"Led by Jaune Arc." Ozpin pointed the chosen one. "Congratulations, young man."

"...me?" Jaune pointed at himself in astonished bewilderment.

"Yes, you Jaune." Pyrrha looked at him, emerald eyes shining with warmth. "You're our leader."

"I'm not a leader." Jaune put up his hands. "Professor, surely there's someone-"

"There is someone." Ozpin stood firm. "You."

"This is gonna be PERFECT!" Yang sang out as she slapped Jaune on the back. "If you keep up the crazy, then hell yeah you can be leader."

"Come on, Blake." Jaune pleaded to his partner. "Say something."

"What's left to say?" Blake feigned resignation. "Ozpin's word is final."

Their arguing couldn't be heard as the first-year students had erupted into cheering and shouting, celebrating securing their hard earned positions at Beacon.

 **(X)(X)(X)(X)**

The newly-named Team JPBY had decided to take the time to find their room and had bid Team RWNR farewell for the time being. Both teams were right across the hall from each other, so they could catch up later.

Additionally, personal evaluations would come in no later than the end of the week via their school-issued scrolls. Nobody wanted to think about that right now though. They all wanted to unwind.

"Man, I'm beat." Yang yawned. "I think I'll just fall into bed and sleep until tomorrow."

"With no food?" Pyrrha questioned as she brushed back a bang that had gotten loose. "Considering what we went through, don't you think food is in order?"

"Yeah, I agree with Pyrrha." Blake asserted as she kept pace. "In my experience as a fighter, you'll feel a lot more moody in the morning if you go to bed without food."

"We're going to be living together for four years, guys." Yang reasoned as she moved in front of them, walking backwards as she talked. "Better that you get to know how to deal with my moods now instead of later."

"Speaking from experience with family, that would probably be a better idea." Jaune added, looking at his scroll, and then the doors of the dorms they passed. "Our room should be around the corner and down a bit."

"Why have a problem when you could just avoid it?" Blake disagreed, her perspective not meshing with her own. "We want to be friends, not enemies."

"Stop." Jaune threw his hand up and the girls followed his command. "This one right here."

They all looked at the door, but nobody moved towards it. They all stared at the door for a moment before turning their heads to each other.

"So who's going to open it?" Jaune asked.

"You are." Blake volunteered him. "You're team leader."

"That was settled quick." Jaune sighed as he used his scroll to unlock the door. "Well, let's see what we've got."

He opened the door and stepped in and his teammates followed him. There were four single beds and four desks with shelves to complement the study area.

"Guys?" The white knight suddenly got a bad feeling.

"Yes, Jaune?" They all questioned.

"Three girls and one guy sharing a room…" He trailed off.

Pyrrha coughed into her hand abruptly.

Blake tried to find a distraction.

Yang scratched the top of her head. "Awkward."

Jaune just groaned.

* * *

 **This chapter took far too long for my liking, but I am very happy with what resulted. The story will now steer more into character-driven story-telling. Action will likely only be seen in combat training and some other cases.**

 **Team Roadrunner was easy to come up with. Considering the liberties taken using RWBY to make Team Ruby, I think I'm in the clear. As for the second one, that was tough. After looking through many dictionaries, I concluded that the best choice would be two words or a hyphenated word, and Jasper-berry became known.**

 **There may be additional grammar issues, so feel free to correct me should any come up. I will also be doing another read of the chapter and make corrections as I need to.**

 **What did you guys think of this chapter? Remember, the more reviews, the more this story gets pushed to the front of my story priority list.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter, and remember:**

 _ **"Well done is better than well said."**_

 **Benjamin Franklin**

 **Later!**


	6. Chapter 6: It's Nice to Meet You

Beta-Readers **: Jauneforever** (Ideas)

Chapter 6: It's Nice to Meet You

 **Beacon Academy**

 **First-Year Dorms**

 **Team JPBY's Dorm**

Jaune clenched his hands.

Pyrrha rubbed her left arm.

Blake crossed her arms with a frown.

Yang let out a low whistle.

Some unknown amount of time had passed since they'd all stumbled upon the realization that they all had to reside in the same room. Although their reactions could have been a whole lot worse, this was not welcome either, and they continued to remain where they were, even as they heard other students making their way to their respective dorms.

Jaune was the first to try and think of something.

"Well, let's take a look at the room before we decide on something." Jaune decided to take the lead as his position dictated. "We can figure out what to do once we do that."

Silently following his lead, the team dispersed to check out each corner, door, crack, and crevice. Apart from the main room, there was a closet with more than enough space for all of their clothing. There was also a fairly roomy bathroom. The main room was more than roomy enough for each of them to decorate their own spot. If they all didn't know better, it would seem that this room was brand-new.

"Well?" Blake took a seat on her self-appointed bed. "How's this going to work?"

"Guess that means we're going to have to set a schedule for showering." Jaune worked out firstly. "And for changing."

"So what?" Yang leaned against the wall. "Us girls wait outside for you then you wait outside for us?"

"Well, the thing is… okay bear with me for a minute." Jaune seemed ready to defend himself as he spoke his next words. "One person getting ready will go faster than three. Plus, and no offense, but I don't know you guys and your morning habits."

"I don't need long to get ready." Blake informed them all. "Ten minutes is my usual time, twenty at worst."

"I fall into the same category as Blake." Pyrrha fell into line next. "I don't expect to win beauty contests as a huntress."

Three heads looked to the celebrity with a stare. The spartan only paused for a moment before realizing her situation. She cleared her throat in some vain attempt to deflect her embarrassment, though her flushed cheeks were available for all to see.

"Well, as I said, I can get ready in the same time as Blake does." Pyrrha tried to get back on track. "What about you, Yang?"

"That depends on my hair." Yang threaded a hand through her hair as she said this. "My hair's gotta be in pristine shape, otherwise I'm not going anywhere."

"And how long does that take?" Jaune inquired, although he didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Uhhh…" Yang put on what appeared to be a thinking face. "Let's see…"

"I'm going to assume that's a long time." Jaune interrupted her with an understanding tone. "Guess I'll go first."

"What about your habits?" Blake returned his question. "There may be only one of you, but how long do you take?"

"Blake, if you've experienced my family life, then you'd know that I can't afford to take long in the bathroom." Jaune snorted in remembrance. "I just need ten minutes, and probably less than that most days. Anything else we should talk about?"

Yang raised her hand, a move that seemed atypical with the blonde-haired girl who always spoke first before considering her words. Nevertheless, Jaune motioned for her to say what she wanted to say.

"What about getting up? I mean, when do we get up?"

"Well, our first classes start at… hold on a minute." Jaune retrieved his schedule from his scroll. "Our first class is with Professor Port, and that starts at 9:00 am sharp. The class is Grimm studies."

"Yawn." Yang replied dully in addition to actually yawning.

"That's not a good sign." Blake stared at the blonde girl. "You'd better not dump your workload on us."

"I do my work." Yang retorted with a stare to equal Blake's. "Well… most of the time anyway."

Nobody had anything to say to that, and even for the less optimistic mind of Blake, they had to at least give her a chance to prove herself. Maybe the situation wasn't nearly as bad as their minds had already concluded.

Maybe.

"We should be up by at least seven." Jaune forcefully ignored all idle chatter. "Assuming we collectively take an hour to get ready, then we've gotta eat, and I'm assuming that'll take at least half an hour to forty-five minutes. That leaves us time to get to class and not be late. Any questions or objections?"

"Yeah, I've got one." Yang interjected once again. "How are we gonna divide this room up?"

"That was a sudden switch." Pyrrha commented with a tilted head. "Weren't we just talking about our mornings?"

"The subject change notwithstanding, it's a valid subject." Blake agreed, leaning back a little bit on her palms. "How do we divide up the room?"

"Hey, wait a minute." Yang bolted up. "Jaune, you're not gonna do anything weird right?"

"W-what, me?!" Jaune was dumbstruck and insulted. "Never. What am I, a caveman? If I did that, I would've gotten beaten up by my family."

"I'm just messin' with ya, boss man." Yang got behind him and hugged him. "You're more like the huggable little bro that their moms wanna protect."

Jaune's face began to turn red, and he looked down at the floor, trying in vain to not let his current predicament get to him.

"Yang, c'mon, that's enough." Blake forced them both apart. "Even though we've only just met today… I trust Jaune not to do anything lewd."

"I do too." Pyrrha joined in without hesitation.

"Okay, I'm grateful, but can we please stop talking about this?" Jaune buried his hands in his face. "I'm right here."

"Stop being a baby." Blake sassed him back, yet squeezed his shoulder. "You'll be fine."

"Define 'fine.'" Jaune mumbled in response.

* * *

 **JPBY - - - RWRN**

* * *

It took the better part of a couple of hours to set everything up, and there was a surprising amount of personal stuff to go around the room. Everyone had agreed to a specific part of the room as their designated area. They were free to do whatever they pleased so long as it didn't encroach upon anyone else's territory.

A quick look once everything was done put differing levels of happiness on everyone's faces.

"Now we've just gotta live her for four years." Jaune said.

"Four years seems like a long time." Yang spoke.

"Not as long as you think." Blake conveyed.

"Well, I hope we grow as friends in that time." Pyrrha opined.

"So what now?" Jaune questioned.

"Sleep time." Yang instantly moved to her part of the room.

The brawler simply crashed onto her own bed and then closed her eyes.

"Are you sure that you're not going to eat?" Jaune ventured. "I mean, surely-"

"Get me food." Yang interrupted him before turning. "Tired."

"Lazy more like." Blake grumbled under her breath.

"... maybe we can indulge her this time." Pyrrha suggested timidly. "This is our first day together, so we should get along."

"Fine, whatever." Blake just went along with it, no longer in any mood to fight it out. "But we're not servants here."

"Geez, what's got your panties in a bunch?" Yang groaned in annoyance, flipping her hair. "C'mon I asked you to bring me food, not world peace."

"Let's… just go." Jaune said while ushering Pyrrha and Blake outside. "Later."

"Later, boss." Yang tossed back at him. "Have fun."

 _What kind of person do you think I am?_ Jaune just couldn't be sure when she'd ever be serious.

The three of them left their shared dorm room and began to make their way to the cafeteria. Along they way, they ran into other students were were moving in as well, and more than once, they had to sidestep people's stuff either neatly arranged or strewn about in the hallway. The initiation test this year seemed to have brought in a whole bunch of new students. They certainly weren't lacking for new classmates.

"Blake, are you okay?" Jaune noticed that his partner. "You look… kind of tense."

"Fine, just fine." Blake brushed off his concern. "If I were you, I'd be more concerned about myself."

"What? Why?" Jaune's face morphed into confusion.

"You really are dense." Blake made subtle gestures at various people they passed by. "Just take a glance around."

In an effort to figure out what the black-haired girl was talking about, the blonde-haired boy looked left and right. He met a boy's eyes briefly before the boy quickly looked away as if pretending they hadn't met eyes. He then tried another person, and he met another pair of eyes, and the same thing happened. It took only a few more tries to realize that he was getting looks from everyone. The girls looked at him with what he could only describe as wariness and the boys appeared irritated.

"Um, what did I do?" Jaune leaned down slightly to whisper to Blake. "Did I do something?"

"Did you do anything?" Blake rephrased his question. "Well…"

* * *

 **RWRN - - - JPBY**

* * *

"Pancakes?" Ruby could only regard Nora's choice of dinner with puzzlement. "Is that… right?"

"Is that right?" Nora turned her head, her eyes set in a hard stare. "Is that right?! What a preposterous question! It's not a matter of right and wrong! It's a matter of the nature of all living things! Pancakes are the only thing that keep us alive! Right Ren?!"

"If you say so, Nora." Ren quietly affirmed as he took a drink of water.

"Does she… eat so much so often?" Weiss appeared more disturbed than confused. "That looks… unnatural."

"Well, you'll find out real soon what Nora can do, so I advise that you suspend common sense for the time being." Ren mentioned to his partner. "She has a way of defying normality and expectations."

"What, Ren?" Nora's voice was muffled as she gorged on pancakes and talked while she chewed. "Didn't catch that."

"Nora, what did I tell you about chewing with your mouth open?" Ren stepped into his parent mode.

"To not to." Nora gulped, then took a long drink. "Sorry, Ren."

"You've said sorry to me for years." Ren had lost count of how many times he had to remind her of table manners. "So I don't think you're really sorry."

"Ren, please forgive me." Nora held her fork with a pancake piece, but payed attention to him. "You can do that much for me, right?"

"I can, and I do." Ren replied without a serious tone. "I mean, if it were a real problem, then I would say so."

"See that, Weiss?" Ruby pointed at the two childhood friends. "Why can't you forgive me that easily?"

"Because we're not childhood friends for one thing." Weiss looked at her header like she was touched in the head. "For another thing, you nearly exploded me. That's a far cry from poor table manners."

"Aw, c'mon, fellow combat-skirt wearer." Ruby tried to appeal again to the heiress. "I'm practically begging you at this point. Pleeease?"

"If you have to beg, then it's not a good apology." Weiss denied the plea for a connection. "I'm not a person to be bought easily."

Ren cleared his throat only loud enough for Weiss to see his expression. He looked in her direction and shook his head once. She knew what his opinion on her obstinance was, and she felt a shard of guilt hit embed itself. Her pride wouldn't allow the guilt to consume her, though, and she had a miniature battle in her head going on.

 _Dammit._ Weiss cursed to herself. _When have I ever felt back about my words?_

This had to be what being cornered psychologically felt like, the feeling that there was nothing that she could do.

"More pancakes!" Nora broke the tension as she finished her stack of plates. "Ren, more pancakes!"

The plate that had once contained a stack of pancakes that reached to Nora's head were gone, all in the span of mere minutes.

"How…" Weiss forgot her anger with Ruby.

"Like I said, common sense doesn't apply to Nora." Ren remained neutral. "At all."

"Yeah, but still." Ruby's jaw hung open a bit. "How does she do that?"

"If I told you how, it wouldn't make sense." Ren looked at Nora. "I'd better get her more."

Ren got up from his seat, grabbed Nora's plate, and moved to retrieve more pancakes, and Nora quickly followed him, leaving Ruby and Weiss with each other, and that fact wasn't lost on either of them.

"So yeah." Ruby rubbed her neck awkwardly. "They seem real close."

"Yes, they do." Weiss agreed, albeit with the same awkwardness. "I'm not sure how I feel about it."

"But it's a good thing that they're close." Ruby reasoned out. "That's one less thing to stress over in the future."

"Be that as it may, there is one problem." Weiss addressed with a hard stare. "Close bonds are also subject to intensity, good and bad. The good side is wonderful. The bad side is horrendous."

Ruby seemed to take this into consideration, but the red reaper didn't appear to be fully changed by the words, only reminded of them. Weiss could only watch her team leader with an expectant look.

"Well, I say they're sweet being together." Ruby smiled widely. "But not together-together."

"Together-together?" Weiss quirked an eyebrow. "What kind of terminology is that?"

"The kind that Nora comes up with." Ruby appeared to not ever understand. "It's just what Nora said. Her words, not mine."

"No, you dolt. I know what it means." Weiss huffed while throwing her arms up. "I was marvelling at the childish wording."

"Oh." Ruby just took it in. "So… what's your family like, Weiss?"

Family. Now there was a term that Weiss could honestly say that she didn't want to talk about most of the time. What was there to talk about? There was more than enough to talk about, but it was nothing that she wanted to share anytime soon.

"I…" Weiss wanted to reject this conversation, but thought better of it, for if she didn't say anything now, she might be pestered later. "I have an older sister. Her name is Winter."

"Cool, so we do have something in common." Ruby jumped at hearing this. "We've got big sisters in common. Go us."

"Yes… go us." Weiss felt the words awkwardly spill out of her mouth.

"What, you don't like your big sister?" Ruby caught that instantly. "Did you guys have a serious argument? Do you hate each others guts?"

"No, no, and no." Weiss repeated the same word to answer all three question, then continued. "I love my sister very much."

"But…" Ruby dragged out. "C'mon tell me."

Weiss looked around for something, anything that could act as a distraction from this conversation. She wasn't ready to talk to this girl and she most certainly wasn't ready to share more personal details. Even with her time spent telling Ren about herself, she had filtered out details. What he knew was hardly enough to be considered sensitive information. He knew a few things here and there that a normal person couldn't find out from public records.

Her saving grace came when three members of JPBY approached their table with trays of food held in their hands. In Pyrrha's case, she held two trays, one in each hand. Weiss wasn't sure if she really was going to eat that or if that tray was for their absent teammate.

"Hey, guys." Jaune nodded his head. "I see you two are… getting to know each other better."

"Jaune, thank goodness." Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. "Help me thaw out the ice princess."

"What's Weiss doing?" Blake asked next. "Or rather, what is she not doing?"

"She's not being cooperative." Ruby pouted and crossed her arms. "I just asked her to talk about her family, and she wouldn't even get past the older sister part."

"Not everyone wants to talk about family." Jaune surprisingly jumped to side with Weiss. "Some things are just too embarrassing. Or too personal."

"Finally, someone who gets it!" Weiss expressed with much pent-up energy. "I don't want to talk about it!"

"Jaune!" Ruby pointed a finger accusingly at him. "You're supposed to be my male BFF! We're team leaders here for Gods' sake. Help me out!"

"...I get the feeling that I'm being used here." Jaune asserted, his body inclining towards the door.

"No, that's exactly what's happening." Blake contested, her usual lack of tact playing into her response. "They're both using you."

"We really need to work on social skills." Jaune mourned with a head shake.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I am quite unskilled at small talk." Pyrrha tried to ease the mood. "So you are not alone Blake."

"...Pyrrha, that wasn't a compliment." Jaune vocalized uneasily.

"Oh." Pyrrha gasped in realization at what she had said. "I'm sorry."

"No offense taken." Blake seemed indifferent. "I've heard worse things."

"How much wo… you know what never mind." Jaune almost travelled into perilous territory. "Coming from you, I don't like where this is going."

"Gee, thanks partner." Blake gave him a look. "Way to make a girl feel special."

"It looks like we've all got a lot of work to do." Jaune made a note.

The whole time that the three of them were talking to each other, it felt like they did it oh-so naturally. They seemed to work off of each other, and even though they hadn't chosen the best of words, they still managed to keep the flow going.

Weiss just didn't get it. "How do you all manage to have these stupid, meaningless conversations all the time?"

"I don't know." Blake shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I do know, but I'm too lazy to explain it."

"That's a terrible excuse, Blake." Jaune droned with a sigh.

"Well, with our varied personalities, it's not too difficult." Pyrrha stepped in to explain instead. "We are… embracive of each other."

"Even though we've never done a group hug." Jaune whispered to no one in particular.

"And I hope we never have one." Blake let her opinion be known.

"Heartless." Jaune breathed. "Just plain heartless."

"For once I'm in agreement with Weiss." Ruby barked out. "How do you guys keep doing this?"

All three of them looked at each other, then back at Weiss and Ruby.

They shrugged.

"What'd we miss?" Nora's voice came into the mix.

"... I really don't know." Ruby just lowered her head to the table. "I really don't know."

* * *

 **JPBY - - - RWRN**

* * *

JPB had taken their leave of the cafeteria to get Yang's food and take it to her. Since she proclaimed to be tired, they had all prepared for her to be asleep. Given what they had witnessed of her character during their team-up in initiation up to this point, she wasn't about lying down and doing nothing, not with an abundance of energy, so if she said was beat, then she either was serious or just lazy.

"Well, she's asleep." Jaune noted their blonde brawler sprawled out on her bed.

"Yep." Blake intoned quietly.

"She looks so… peaceful." Pyrrha quickly thought up of a word to describe Yang.

Yes, their resident kickass blondie was very peaceful-looking. She was also sleeping in a sprawled-out manner that looked so uncomfortable not to mention completely undignified.

"Is that drool?" Jaune pointed to her pillow.

"Gross." Blake made a disgusted face. "She'd better clean that later."

"… where should we leave the food?" Pyrrha gandered around their room. "Her desk?"

"Good enough." Jaune said. "Leave it there. She can eat it whenever she feels like it, I guess."

Pyrrha carefully placed the tray on her desk, then took her own tray with two hands. She then rejoined Jaune and Blake.

"I guess we just chow down." Blake came up with.

"It would be better if we had a table where we could all sit." Jaune lamented. "I don't think I could eat anywhere else and not feel strange."

"Agreed." Pyrrha chimed in. "Eating alone at our own desks is not what I would prefer."

"Maybe we could get one later if we want to eat in our room in the future." Blake muttered. "Right now, I guess we could just use our end tables."

The they all cleared their small tables beside their desks and set their trays down before beginning to eat.

"I'm surprised Yang hasn't woken up." Jaune commented before he took a drink. "We're not loud, but we're not being extra quiet either."

"She could be a heavy sleeper." Blake took a bite from her sandwich, then swallowed. "I've known a few people like that."

"I wouldn't know about that." Jaune answered as he put down his fork. "My family isn't exactly what you'd call a stable."

"Family drama?" Blake immediately jumped to her own conclusion.

"No, not family drama." Jaune rebuked, but he did look apprehensive. "More like family craziness. I have seven sisters."

"Seven sisters?" Both Pyrrha and Blake seemed surprised. "You?"

"Yep." Jaune replied before taking another drink. "What about you guys?"

"I am an only child." Pyrrha made known. "And I don't have any other family besides my parents."

"Same here." Blake mirrored the readhead. "No siblings, no family besides parents."

"You guys must have more quiet family lives." Jaune assumed without thought. "Being an only child means you get all the attention."

"Not necessarily." Blake responded with a reminiscent look on her face. "Just because you're an only child doesn't mean there aren't exciting things going on."

"Like what?" Jaune tried to wrap his head around it.

"Well, I love my parents, sure, but I can't say that I've always agreed with them." Blake looked out the window as she explained. "I… I've had more fair share of arguments with them about what I want to do with my life."

"Big arguments?" Jaune queried while grabbing his apple.

"Pretty much." Blake looked longingly out the window as she told her story. "It started out small, but then it got to a point where nobody could call it small."

"Well… I hope you sort it out." Jaune tried to make light of the conversation. "The worst thing to do is to leave an argument with family unresolved."

Blake glanced at her partner, taking note of how his face looked. It wasn't just his words that she was attentive to, but also his inflection and his expression that made her face soften up. It didn't sound like he was speaking those words just to try and cheer her on; it looked like he knew what she was talking about, like he had experienced something of similar caliber.

"So what about you, Pyrrha?" Blake attempted to steer away from any more depressing talk. "What's your family life like?"

"It's really not that complicated." Pyrrha looked a bit flustered. "My family life has been, for the most part, stable, even with my rather busy life."

"Busy life?" Jaune tilted his head. "Oh yeah, you're a celebrity of some sort, right?"

"Yes, I am." Pyrrha's lighthearted tone dampened a bit. "It hasn't left me much time to do other more normal things."

"Sounds too busy." The blonde knight took a stab. "If you're not getting the chance to be a normal person, then you're kind of missing out."

"Missing out on what?" Now it was the redhead's turn to gaze in wonder.

"I don't know much about celebrities. Heck, I didn't even know that Weiss was the heiress to the SDC, and they provide most of the dust power in the world." He chuckled at his lack of knowledge. "But I do know this: I wouldn't want to live that life. Doing the right thing is good enough for me."

"The right thing?" The spartan could take a guess at what that was.

"You know, saving lives, doing good deeds, the usual thing you hear in stories." He listed off on his hand. "Also, I've kinda got a family legacy to uphold, so there is that."

"What kind of legacy?" Pyrrha brokered in, her energy returning.

"The warrior kind. My great-great grandfather fought in the Great War." Jaune elaborated further. "That's been one of my main driving forces more or less."

They had all shared something about themselves, and even though it was clear that they were far from being close teammates, they continued on with their conversation. There was nothing deeply personal talked about, but they still managed to find something to talk about. It didn't matter if the subjects were small.

It was a starting point after all.

* * *

 **RWRN - - - JPBY**

* * *

Yang did a slight snort before she felt herself waking up. She took in the fact that the room she had awoken in was not her room at her home on the island of Patch. She was at Beacon Academy and this was her dorm room that she shared with three other teammates.

"Ugh." Yang yawned quietly. "How long was I out?"

She raised herself up and rubbed her eyes, clearing off anything blocking her view. Once she finished, she looked around. It took her a moment to realize that it was dark. At first, she thought that it was because there was no light in the room. That wasn't the case though, because she peeked outside, and it was just as patch-black as the inside of her room. Her only source of light was the moonlight.

Semi-blindly, Yang reached for her scroll which she felt in her pocket as she shifted to sit up. Retrieving the device, she powered it on, and she regretted it, her eyes not yet adapted to the brightness of the screen.

 _Note to self: don't hold your scroll so close to your face._ Yang was sure she had told herself this many times before. _Next time, for sure._

After a minute of adjustment, she was finally able to get her eyes to not shy away from the light source. Once she could stand it, she waved her scroll all around to see around the room. Blake, Jaune, and Pyrrha were all there in the room, and they looked to all be sleeping soundly. The only sound that could be heard was light breathing and the occasional heavy breath here and there, but nothing else.

Then Yang's stomach began to growl, and it wasn't quietly.

"Dammit." Yang felt a jolt of fear. "Don't wake up. Don't wake up."

She held her breath, waiting to see what would happen. She didn't know if any of them were light sleepers. She sure as hell wasn't one. On her worst days, the Great War happening in the backyard of her home couldn't wake her up.

After she was sure that nobody had roused from their slumber, she then moved onto her next problem: hunger. She'd declined to get food while her teammates had headed to the cafeteria. They said they would bring her back food.

 _So where is it?_ Yang slowly got up. _I don't smell anything. Then again, food that's been sitting for a while tends to either lose smell or go bad._

Maybe they'd left it on one of the studying desks. With that idea in mind, she put her scroll in front of herself and began to carefully guide herself to where she remembered they'd placed the desks, taking care to watch her steps. Aura or no aura, stubbing her toes was never fun. There was also the addition of keeping her footsteps ghost-like in order to maintain the peacefulness of the room.

 _So many things to think about just to get some food._ Yang grumbled to herself. _Maybe I should've just eaten with them. It's a lot less complicated that way._

The first desk she set eyes upon wasn't hers. There were stacks of books lined up neatly both on the shelf above and on the desk itself. This was Blake's desk for sure; the amount of books she had brought with her was more than the three remaining members of JPBY combined. That explained why Blake was horrible with people.

"Focus, Yang. My desk." The brawler mouthed to herself. "Where is it?"

She took another step forward, and heard the sound of a creak beneath her footstep. She froze and waited. There was a slight groan from someone before the quiet settled. Then it was time to move again.

Next was Jaune's desk, and as she shined her scroll onto it, she took note of the X-Ray and Vav comics spread out. Judging by how many he had, he appeared to be quite the fan. Maybe he got a bit of his own hero bravado from these things, and if that were the case, then that was one more thing to tease him about.

Pyrrha maintained a very tidy desk, the picture-perfect student. A notebook as well as the necessary school textbooks and supplies were arranged in an orderly fashion. Not a single pencil or paper was out of place. It couldn't get any more neat than this. Did that mean Pyrrha was a sort of neat freak? Yang hoped that wasn't the case.

There was only one more desk to find, and to her great relief, there was a tray of food. It was a wrapped sub, some slices of orange, and a bottle of juice. Without a care in the world, she unwrapped the sub and began to gulp it down.

"Okay, new fact." Yang whispered. "Beacon Academy food is pretty good. I was expecting something not as good."

Putting her scroll in a position where she could see what she was eating, she noticed a note on a sticky. She carefully plucked it and read it.

 _Next time, you're coming with us to the cafeteria._

"Blake probably wrote that." Yang took a guess. "Too blunt to be Jaune or Pyrrha."

* * *

 **Hey, what's up guys. I'm sorry that I didn't get to this story faster, but I had to sort out my priorities first, and with the end of the semester in sight, my workload is going into overdrive.**

 **But enough about me. The story continues, and for those of you wondering, I'm not going to be retelling the events of RWBY. What would be the point? That's what the canon story is for. All events in this story are going to be told with Alternate Universe qualities, and all events are hopefully going to be novel if not original. I might have said it already, but for those of you with concerns, I want to lay them to rest.**

 **The romance between Jaune and Blake remains the most important aspect, and that's a buildup that's going to last for quite some time if my overarching story is anything to go by. I can't claim to be a love expert, but I believe that I have an idea of how to build a realistic romance. My time with One-Night Brand is teaching me.**

 **So what's the buzz? Leave a review and let me know what you guys thought of this story. You also can call me out for taking too long or missing grammar issues. I did read-over, but I'm certain that once I reread it again, I'll find something else.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed reading.**

 ** _"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society."_**

 **Theodore Roosevelt**

 **Peace out!**


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